The empty beds suggest Dubbo and district has COVID-19 on the canvas.
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But if it is not a knockout blow they will be used in the fight against the coronavirus.
The coronary care unit on the second level or "critical care floor" of the under-construction Macquarie Building at Dubbo Hospital has been fast-tracked to boost its intensive care beds from 12 to 32.
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It was chosen to accommodate intensive care beds during the pandemic because its construction was more advanced than the other units on the floor.
This week Health Infrastructure advised that the unit had been completed under the $150 million stage three and four redevelopment of the hospital.
"The new unit is ready to be mobilised if required as part of the Western NSW Local Health District's surge planning for COVID-19," its spokesman said.
In April, the health district's chief executive Scott McLachlan said the "early commissioning" of the 20 beds in the new coronary care unit would make intensive care beds available in the old and new parts of the hospital, with up to 18 of them "ventilated beds".
The new unit is ready to be mobilised if required as part of the Western NSW Local Health District's surge planning for COVID-19.
- A spokesman for Health Infrastructure
The other units on the critical care floor of the Macquarie Building, including the stroke unit, intensive care unit, and cardiac catheter and angiography laboratories, will be completed as planned in 2021.
The Health Infrastructure spokesman provided an update on the redevelopment.
"Hansen Yuncken is continuing redevelopment works with the demolition of old units to construct a new front of house and final section of the new emergency department," he said.
"Work is also progressing on other floors and units within the Macquarie Building along with works for the new Western Cancer Centre Dubbo being undertaken by Lipman Pty Ltd."
The hospital's emergency department and short-stay unit along with its medical imaging unit are now operating out of the Macquarie Building.