The George Hatch Building at Dubbo Hospital will go the way of its nurses' quarters, boiler house and a 32-metre-high chimney stack riddled with asbestos.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
General manager Debbie Bickerton reports it is set to be demolished under the $150 million stage three and four redevelopment of the hospital.
The flattening of old infrastructure from late 2012 marked a visual start to the $91.3 million stage one and two redevelopment.
On Tuesday NSW Premier Mike Baird and Health Minister Jillian Skinner travelled to Dubbo to officially open its showpiece, a clinical services building meeting the maternity and surgical needs of patients from across the western region.
After the ceremony Ms Bickerton pointed to the state-of-the-art facility on a diagram on the orange wall of a main corridor at the hospital.
"There's the new clinical services building with theatres on the bottom and maternity on the top," she said.
"In stage three and four a third storey will go on top of maternity. That will be an inpatient unit, most likely medical at this stage. It might not always be medical."
Ms Bickerton said the hospital's existing emergency department (ED) would become its "front entrance".
"In the forecourt of ED, and extending almost twice the size of ED, will be a three-storey building," she said.
"The ED will be on the bottom with a 10-bed EMU (emergency medical unit) along with the imaging department. On the middle floor will be ambulatory care and on the top floor a cardiac catherisation lab with room for expansion in the future."
Ms Bickerton said the George Hatch Building would make way for parking.
"Obviously anything they take away like George Hatch has to be replaced," she said.
"There will be office space created in the old maternity unit. It will be refurbished and medical records will go down the bottom."
Ms Bickerton said motorists eventually would be able to park "right up the side of the hospital, rather than having to dog leg around it".
The oncology unit is set to be expanded under stage three and four redevelopment.
"They'll do oncology first because of the need for it now," Ms Bickerton said.
The general manager understands the next two stages of redevelopment "goes out to 2020".
She is hopeful the first sod will be turned this year after a business case is lodged and state development approval granted.
"We're starting our project user-group meetings this month," Ms Bickerton said.
After the official opening Mrs Skinner emphasised the importance of consultation with the likes of doctors, nurses, community representatives and patients.
During her almost two-hour visit, she said stages three and four were "effectively" the end of the redevelopment of Dubbo Hospital.