Multiplex to build NSW’s biggest health development project at Westmead

Member for Parramatta Geoff Lee announced the Westmead Redevelopment project has been awarded to Multiplex Constructions.

The company will build the new main hospital building as part of the $900 million Westmead Redevelopment.

The new hospital building, to open in 2020, will include two new emergency departments – one for adults and one for children – along with state-of-the-art operating theatres, inpatient beds and clinical support services, providing improved health services, outcomes and experiences for patients and families.

Mr Lee said the new building would offer a patient-centred environment for care in a modern, state-of-the-art facility.

“This new building will be comfortable and welcoming to the hundreds of patients who visit our busy Westmead hospitals annually,” he said.

“Patients and their families have been heavily involved in designing the building to ensure the space reflects the needs of the community now and in the future.

“Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd has been engaged under an early contractor involvement arrangement to continue these efforts and will work with Westmead clinicians, patients, families and community members to finalise the design for this exciting redevelopment.”

Mr Lee said the outcome of the tender process and subsequent works would also significantly boost employment in the region, creating 1500 new construction jobs annually and more than 40 apprenticeships.

“Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd has also committed to five per cent of the total contract price being committed to Aboriginal Participation in Construction (APIC), which is well in excess of the NSW Government minimum of 1.5 per cent,” he said.  

“Further, the contractor has committed to raise the bar and meet the higher requirements of the NSW Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program.”

Multiplex has also committed to establishing a learning centre on the Westmead precinct. The centre will act as the hub for collaboration between a wide range of service providers including Jobactive, Disability Service Providers, Transition to Work Providers VTEC and Aboriginal support agencies. It will also act as the point of co-ordination for all employment, training and community value-related activities for the construction of the central acute services building.

Mr Lee said the Westmead Redevelopment would greatly expand health services across the precinct.

“This project is an opportunity to develop skills for our workplaces of the future,” he said.

“Westmead is already one of the world-leading health, research and education precincts; the new building will only enhance this by ensuring education, training and research are woven into all spaces.”

Western Sydney Local Health District chief executive Danny O’Connor said he was was thrilled to have Multiplex Constructions working on the project.

“We are pleased to have the experience and expertise that Multiplex brings from other large projects like Bega, Byron Bay and St George Hospitals,” he said.

“Building a new hospital building at Westmead, in the centre of two of the busiest hospitals in NSW and alongside world-class research institutes, has many technical difficulties. 

“Multiplex will be working closely with our patients, carers and community and with our students, clinicians and researchers in finalising the design and bringing innovations to construction of the new hospital building.”

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead chief executive Dr Michael Brydon said emergency services in the new hospital building would rival the best in the world.

“With both adult and paediatric emergency departments accessing cutting-edge theatres, medical imaging and diagnostics, families from western Sydney and across the state will receive the very best care when they need it the most.”

Other important elements of the Westmead Redevelopment include a new multi-storey car park, which will open later this year, infrastructure upgrades to be completed in the coming months and a staged refurbishment program for Westmead Hospital, which kicked off in 2014 and is due for completion in 2021.