Helderberg Hospital, located on the corner of Lourensford Road and Irene Avenue, Somerset West, provides a comprehensive Level 1 service package of care. Demands on the hospital have surpassed the capacity of the existing facility, primarily due to the changes of demography and disease profile of the hospital catchment area. Then original Emergency Centre carried the bulk of this service pressure.
While it is due for replacement in the next 10 years, the Emergency Centre Upgrade and Additions project set out to alleviate these capacity constraints on the current infrastructure and services.
The project scope comprised of extensive upgrades and additions to the Emergency Centre with a new main public entrance, waiting, reception and triage areas, as well as extensions to the existing maternity ward to include a 12-bed mother kangaroo unit. Non-clinical components of the project scope included new fencing along the eastern boundary to address recurring security concerns, increasing the secure parking area by 91 bays, and improvements to vehicular and pedestrian circulation on the property. The domestic water supply was also upgraded, and the hot water system of the entire facility replaced.
The design was conceived as a partially prefabricated model using lightweight steel-framed and -cladded construction. This makes it possible to disassemble the structure and potentially reuse it in another location if required.
This design also maximises space efficiency by utilising less floor area than traditional masonry construction. A phased approach to construction was adopted so that the hospital could get the benefit of early occupation of completed sections. The project started two years before the COVID-19 National State of Disaster came into effect. The regulations closed the site for a period in 2020.
As work recommenced under less severe Disaster Management Act regulations, there were additional occupational health and safety compliance requirements, e.g. the provision of personal protective equipment and other infection control measures, including fewer labourers on site at one time. Other hindrances to the completion of critical portions of the work included pandemic-induced material supply shortages.
Quality control is managed by the Department, the professional team and the contractor through comprehensive quality management plans.