DUBBO Health Council members wisely opted to wear walking shoes when inspecting the interior of the city's new clinical services building which will open its doors to patients before the end of the year.
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The ground floor of the new two-storey building now physically connected to Dubbo Hospital measures about 5500 square metres, or more than half a hectare.
Upstairs there is 2000 square metres of ground to cover.
Chairwoman Lorna White told the Daily Liberal after the tour "we knew it was going to be big".
"But I didn't think it was going to be as big as what it is," she said.
Tour leader and Dubbo Hospital general manager Debbie Bickerton expects to receive the keys to the building in mid-to-late October, after which it will be commissioned across six weeks.
Workmen were about two months away from completing an internal fit-out and external works including landscaping.
Their final weeks on the job would be challenging with Health Infrastructure reported to be demanding nothing but "perfection".
The key component of the $91.3 million stage one and two redevelopment of Dubbo Hospital, the clinical services building will provide surgical and maternity services for residents of Dubbo and the western region.
During Thursday morning's tour Ms Bickerton joked that it was the "entree" and the approved $150 million stage three and four redevelopment the "main course".
But health council members were swooning as they were escorted through the building which made the rest of Dubbo Hospital look ever-so weary.
Entry to the new building was through a door beside the reception desk at the main entrance to the hospital.
Inside was an unfinished lobby where health council members found a recess in a wall for a Jonathon Jones' Wiradjuri-inspired artwork commissioned with a $60,000 grant from Arts NSW.
They passed by lifts to the next floor, where mothers will deliver about 1300 babies a year, before entering a "gold standard" surgery department.
The health council wandered through and past holding and recovery bed bays, six new digital operating theatres, and day-only and extended day-only wards/rooms configured to maximise patient flow.
Four of the theatres should be in use before the end of 2015, with extra funding being provided to activate a fifth theatre in the new year.
The larger-than-normal theatres feature equipment that has been dubbed "amazing" by at least one Sydney-based specialist who will use it.
Ms Bickerton pointed out cameras in the middle of lights that can "take photos for medical records" and allow consultants to watch and advise on surgery in progress.
"I think there is growth in surgery and that growth is in high-volume short-stay surgery," she said. A centralised sterilisation unit on the floor is triple the size of the one it will replace.
Ms Bickerton said its staff would implement a system of tracking instruments, which would be a "first for NSW".
The health council followed their tour leader past timber-panelled work stations that they considered complemented white and grey paintwork bought to life by the occasional green or blue wall.
Light streaming in from floor-to-ceiling windows was a talking point, particularly for Mrs White.
"If you can see some greenery and some light I think it makes for a better recovery," she said.
On the top floor a splash of purple paintwork was discussed as the tour group descended on one of four birthing suites which have left women agog.
Each has a huge bath near a bed where the next generations of western NSW residents will be born.
"We don't currently do water births here but in the future we'll have everything we need to do that," Ms Bickerton said.
Close by is a special care nursery and accommodation for "boarder mothers" needing to be with their sick babies.
The new nursery will boost the hospital's capacity to care for premature babies.
"Currently we keep 34-week babies and we would be looking in the future to move to 32 weeks," the general manager said.
A new inpatient ward will accommodate 17 mothers as compared with 14 at the old maternity unit.
Each room has a baby bath.
Ms Bickerton suggested to the tour group that women who moved hospitals after having their babies "may choose to stay here".
Upstairs and down, every inpatient room has an ensuite.
Artwork is set to adorn both floors of the clinical services building.
Ms Bickerton was particularly keen to see images of western region landscapes by Dubbo artist Amy McIntyre on the new maternity department's walls.
The photos on vinyl aim to help pregnant women from across the region feel welcome and comfortable when they are admitted.
"Over 30 per cent of the babies born here are identified as Aboriginal," the general manager said.
"We need to make it culturally appropriate."
The commissioning of the new building will include staff training, "clinical cleaning" of the operating theatres, monitoring of the air to protect sterile products, stocking of cupboards and the execution of a "moving plan".
Ms Bickerton said it included ensuring "emergency surgery remained accessible in the old theatres while we move into the new theatres".
On the subject of size the general manager reports that the new facility is "standard for now" as was the old hospital at the time it was built.
The public can weigh in on the issue at an open day at the new facility at a yet-to-be-announced date in October.