T17/14829
Issue: 27 March 2017
St George Redevelopment Newsletter
Welcome to St George Hospital’s new volunteers from left: Joshua Feeney, Jake Watson and Ethan Davidson. The three
school leavers are part of a transition to work program helping young people living with a disability into paid employment.
Their new role is to assist patients and visitors find their way around the hospital during the redevelopment disruptions. This
includes manning the new information booth on Belgrave Street and also helping people around the Gray Street main entry
where refurbishment works are ongoing. The transition to work program runs for two years and teaches the participants life
skills needed for employment.
Coming soon: Grey Street main entry works to move in doors
refurbishment project which is to create a more
open and welcoming main entry environment
with a new hospital reception area, comfortable
seating and waiting areas and new retail outlets.
To do this, the current temporary main entry
access point (called the western airlock by our
redevelopment team) will be closed and a new
entry point close by (called the eastern airlock)
will be opened.
Artist impression
Refurbishment works for the Gray Street main entry
and façade commenced in July last year and so far,
have concentrated mainly on the external upgrade
which includes new façade awnings, exterior
cladding and the installation of shop front glass.
We are now moving into the final phase of the
We will advise staff when we have a date
confirmed for the changeover.
Signage will be in place to direct staff, patients
and visitors through the new entry and we will
also have our Redevelopment Volunteers on
hand to assist. Accessibility access for the
hospital main entry and the Emergency
Department will be available at all times.
Write to us at:
[email protected]
Visit our project website:
www.stgeorgehospitalredev.health.nsw.gov.au
Issue: 27 March 2017
It’s getting real! As the scaffolding starts to be removed from the Acute Services Building (ASB) façade, our new building
is being revealed for the first time. The first of the sky signs is now clearly visible from Short Street.
Getting ready to make the move into the new ASB
a smooth transition.
Moving into a new building is an enormous
undertaking for any organisation. For a hospital, it is
To kick start the countdown to move day, we are
even more complex with continuation of quality health
launching a staff initiative in May, 2017 to signify
care for patients the number one priority.
the approaching move deadlines but we need
A lot of consultation and planning has been going on your help.
behind the scenes through the Redevelopment
We are looking for a catchy slogan we can use
Change Management team to ensure our staff are
(no more than six words) to promote our
prepared for the transfer of their departments into the
preparing to move campaign through a staff
ASB later this year.
competition. The winning entry will receive a VIP
site tour of the new ASB.
There is a lot to do. Old work spaces need to be
decluttered – we are only taking what we need so
To enter, simply fill out the entry form below and
there will be declutter days. Training will also be
place it in the competition box located in the
scheduled for new equipment and work practices and
hospital’s old cafeteria dining area. The closing
there will be a whole range of activities specific to
date is Friday 14 April, 2017 @ 5pm.
departments that will need to take place to ensure it’s

Staff Slogan Competition - Closing date: Friday 14 April, 2017
Name:
Position/Department:
Email/telephone contact:
Slogan:
Write to us at:
[email protected]
Visit our project website:
www.stgeorgehospitalredev.health.nsw.gov.au
Issue: 27 March 2017
Redevelopment benefits already here for refurbishment program
The hospital refurbishment program
continues with the Emergency Department
(ED) receiving two newly refurbished office
spaces.
The offices are now in use for social work
and asset management.
Overseeing the handover from left: Kim
Bonnici, Nurse Manager and
Redevelopment Commissioning Officer;
Antoinette Borg, Nurse Manager, ED and
Fiona Duncan, Redevelopment FFE
Officer.
The new Pharmacy Delivery area has
also been handed over to the hospital in
its new location off the ED corridor.
Pharmacy deliveries were previously
temporarily located in the old cashier
office space during refurbishments.
This area has now been closed off
including the cashier corridor for
demolition works behind construction
hoardings in readiness for the creation of
a new linking corridor leading from the
hospital Tower Ward Block to the new
ASB atrium.
Below is an artist impression of the new
corridor starting from the Tower Ward
Block lift lobby.
On hand to inspect the final finishes of Pharmacy Delivery from left:
Gilda Barakat Johnstaff (Redevelopment Project Management);
Johneen Tierney, Director of Pharmacy and Rod Gardiner, Pharmacy
Purchasing Officer.
Artist impression
Write to us at:
[email protected]
Visit our project website:
www.stgeorgehospitalredev.health.nsw.gov.au
Issue: 27 March 2017
St George Hospital’s new O-Arm - a first for public hospitals in Australia
The St George Hospital Redevelopment is not all
about construction of the new Acute Services
Building and hospital refurbishments. Other
benefits to the hospital include the arrival of new,
state-of-the-art technology not available at any
other public hospital in Australia.
Called the O-Arm, the largest piece of equipment
purchased for the redevelopment is worth over
$1 million and is similar to a mobile intraoperative
CT scanner.
Dr Mark Davies, Neurosurgeon, says the O-Arm is
the best equipment available of its type in the
world. “More than 15 years in the development,
the benefits of the O-Arm extend beyond its core
role for trauma spinal and brain surgery. We are
still exploring its capabilities and looking at what it
can do for other areas of surgery.”
The O-Arm links with the surgical navigation system
in the operating theatres and offers many benefits
over traditional 2D fluoroscopy machines. Its mobility
means it can be wheeled into different theatres when
needed, providing three-dimensional images in real
time with low radiation exposure, enabling medical
staff to remain in the room while in use.
Combining the image quality of a CT scanner in
the operating room with what is essentially a GPS
for surgeons; the O-Arm enables doctors to more
easily navigate around delicate spinal and
neurological structures and tracks instrumentation
during surgery. This means surgeons receive
extremely precise real time visual feedback on the
insertion of metal rods and screws during spinal
surgery.
“The benefits of using this technology flow on to
the patient with the precise accuracy of the O-Arm
resulting in higher success rates of surgery, less
after surgery complications and shorter recovery
times for patients.
“As a Level 1 Trauma Centre in Sydney, it’s really
significant that St George Hospital now has the OArm and we are already seeing the benefits.
"For example, a young lady in her 20s with an
unstable spinal fracture as a result of a car
accident, recently had surgery using the O-Arm.
She was able to leave hospital just days after
surgery. Previously, she could well have been in
hospital for up to two weeks, such is the accuracy
of this technology,” Dr Davies said.
Write to us at:
[email protected]
Visit our project website:
www.stgeorgehospitalredev.health.nsw.gov.au
Issue: 27 March 2017
Golden Ticket winners step behind the scenes of the new ASB
Golden Ticket
Winners for our
January ASB site
tour were from
left in the special
VIP red hard
hats: Danielle
Knoke,
Physiotherapist,
Allied Health and
Cathie Sharman,
Administrative
Assistant,
Childrens Ward
and Special Care
Nursery.
Our February
Golden Ticket
winners were from
left: Brett Johnson,
Wardsperson; Kim
Wade, Manager,
Business
Information and
Irene Martincich,
Nutrition Support.
High Voltage works underway in Gray Street
Our builders Multiplex will be handing over the new hospital substation shell on the corner of Gray Street and
the Gray Street car park to Ausgrid in the near future. It will then be up to Ausgrid to commission new
electricity transformers and undertake the final connection of the sub station to high voltage cabling to power
the new ASB.
Please follow the directions of signage and traffic controllers in regards to parking and pedestrian walkways
while these works are underway.
Write to us at:
[email protected]
website:
www.stgeorgehospitalredev.health.nsw.gov.au