The McGowan Labor Government will invest an additional $400 million in 270 new beds across the health system to increase capacity and be extra prepared for when border controls are further eased and COVID-19 enters the Western Australian community.
The $398 million investment builds on the McGowan Government’s massive $1.9 billion health investment in the 2021-22 Budget – equating to one of the biggest investments ever in the health system.
The extra funding will result in additional beds being rolled out progressively and result in a total of 530 additional beds in the health system over the next year.
This will help address demand in our hospitals and build extra capacity as a longer term safeguard for WA’s transition, when COVID-19 inevitably comes into the WA community.
The 270 new beds costing approximately $206.8 million will be supported by $191.2 million to fund 410 extra nurses and more than 180 extra doctors working on our hospital wards.
These new beds will comprise of 150 beds across a range of hospitals, including 74 general beds and 40 ICU beds, with 36 leased public beds in private hospitals.
Of the 150 beds, Royal Perth Hospital will receive an additional 52 beds (including 28 ICU beds), Bentley Hospital an additional 26, Fremantle Hospital an additional 24, Fiona Stanley Hospital an additional 10 ICU beds and Perth Children’s Hospital an additional two ICU beds.
There will also be an additional 26 public beds at Hollywood Hospital and 10 at South Perth Hospital.
Osborne Park and Rockingham general hospitals and two other hospital sites (including a regional site) will all be expanded to deliver 120 new beds to provide additional temporary capacity in line with increased demand, using modular construction.
Since January 2021, 1,158 nurses and 440 doctors have been recruited to work in the WA public health system. An additional 1,200 graduate nurses are expected to be employed in 2022.
A $2 million local, national and international advertising campaign is underway to recruit more healthcare staff.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“WA is well prepared for a major outbreak of COVID-19.
“Today’s announcement makes us even better prepared.
“This is one of the biggest investments in WA’s health system with more than 500 beds coming online – the equivalent of a new hospital.
“It builds on our 2021-22 Budget investment of $1.9 billion to ensure our health system remains one of the best in the world.
“My Government’s strong COVID-19 response has kept Western Australia safe and strong.
“With increasing vaccinations amongst our community and these massive investments in health, we are making sure that when COVID-19 does arrive in WA we can continue to keep Western Australians safe.”
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
“All hospitals across Australia are facing unprecedented demand and we want to increase the capacity of our hospitals and boost frontline staff.
“This Government has continued to make significant investments in our hospitals, including a $1.9 billion investment in health and mental health in this year’s State Budget.
“With the threat of COVID-19 ever present we continue to invest in our health system and continue to keep Western Australians safe.”
