Goulburn Base Hospital

Goulburn Base Hospital is a public district hospital located in the city of Goulburn, New South Wales in Australia. The hospital is situated on Goldsmith Street, approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) from the Central Business District. The hospital is operated by Southern NSW Local Health District and serves as a regional referral facility providing a range of general, surgical and some specialist services. It is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Australian National University, based in Canberra.

Services

An 11 bed emergency department operates 24 hours. Goulburn Base Hospital has a 6 bed Intensive Care Unit for adult patients, specializing in high dependency and coronary care. Critical patients who are suffering from conditions the hospital is not equipped to handle are transferred to Canberra or Sydney.^[2] A helipad on the hospital grounds facilitates patient transfers and evacuations. A 20 bed rehabilitation ward was opened in 2013.

The Chisholm Ross Centre is a 32 bed inpatient psychiatric unit for patients suffering acute mental health conditions.^[3] Other specialist services provided include gastroenterology, ophthalmology a renal unit and a maternity ward. A variety of allied health services are also available on the hospital campus.^[4]

History

Goulburn base Hospital was designed by local architect E. C. Manfred in 1886.^[5] The official opening by mayor H.S. Gannon opening took place on 12 October 1889 attended by a crowd of about 1000 residents. The hospital opened with a total of 24 beds - 14 for men and 10 for women.^[6] By June 1949, the hospital had grown to incorporate 182 beds, a pathology department and specialized X-ray equipment.^[7]

By 2013 work had commenced on much needed upgrades, including $20 million in capital works allowing an expansion of the mental health facilities, construction of a new 20 bed sub-acute wing, addition of 3 beds to the emergency department as well as general renovations. A major electrical upgrade was completed as part of the works allowing extra medical equipment to be acquired for the operating theatre and imaging departments.^[8]

In 2014 it was announced AN upgraded – or even new - hospital for Goulburn could soon be a reality following an announcement of $600,000 towards redevelopment plans by NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner. “I do have a feeling though from some of my previous visits that part of the core of this hospital cannot be redeveloped because of the load bearing nature of the walls. “So that may mean ‘do we look at a new hospital alongside what is currently here, do we in-fill, demolish part of it, etc’- those are the kind of things that will need to be looked at in this planning process Ms Skinner said.^[9]

Statistics

In figures published by the Australian Government's My Hospital website for the 2011-2012 financial year, Goulburn Base Hospital performed 1,400 elective surgeries and handled 16,998 Emergency Department presentations. Waiting times in the emergency department were longer than the national average across all triage classifications. Waiting times for elective surgeries compared favourably to similar hospitals.^[10] The hospital's 2010 operating budget was $35.03 million.^[4]

References