$200 million boost for Illawarra services

28/02/23

People in New South Wales’ Illawarra region can look forward to a major upgrade in healthcare services after the approval of a new $200 million expansion for Wollongong Private Hospital.

Hospital operator Ramsay Health Care Board has signed off the two-year project, which includes a full-time emergency department and significant investment in new inpatient beds and operating theatres.

Wollongong Private Hospital CEO Steven Rajcany said the development could begin “within a matter of months” once the state had cleared the application. 

“If we get the go-ahead shortly, it can be completed in the first half of 2025,” he said.

“We look forward to being able to provide more leading healthcare services for the local community and alleviating some of the pressures on the public health system.”

As well as the region’s first private 24-7 emergency department, the hospital will also add more than 100 new private inpatient beds to its current capacity of 171, four new state-of-the-art operating theatres and a second cardiac catheterisation lab.

“We’ll also increase our capacity to help treat local cancer patients with six new oncology chairs and improved oncology radiation services,” Mr Rajcany said. 

The hospital opened in January 2016 with 151 beds, two and a half years after Ramsay Health Care announced plans for its construction while deciding to convert Wollongong's Figtree Private Hospital into a rehabilitation facility.

“Ramsay Health Care is committed to investing in the facilities, technology and people needed to enhance patient experience and outcomes for the local community,” Mr Rajcany said.