Opening of $30 million Wagga Base hospital car park completes hospital development project

Twenty years in the making, the project to build a new hospital and state of the art health precinct is finally complete with the unveiling of the 350 space complex which for many in the community was the number one health concern.

A $30 million 800-space car park was announced by then Health Minister Brad Hazzard in the lead-up to the 2018 Wagga byelection, but by February 2021, the actual plans approved left space for only 360 spaces, sparking questions over why the project still cost $30 million despite offering less than half the spaces.

The newly complete six-level structure will provide free parking for patients, staff and visitors and more than doubles the amount of parking around the hospital, with more than 900 spots available for patients, visitors and staff.

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Almost 11 years to the day since the first sod was turned on the development, Murrumbidgee Local Health District chief executive Dr Jill Ludford said the development will serve the whole region.

"The carpark, which is the finishing touch for the actual project, is in recognition that this is not just a hospital for the people of Wagga, but for the region," she said.

During community working group meetings discussing the potential new hospital in the early 2000s, Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr remembers parking being the hot issue.

"We sat down with the stakeholders ... I had these images of people talking about what surgery would be available, what clinics might be available, what services we could do, how we could expand intensive care," he said.

"And I've got to tell you, at meeting after meeting, the number one issue from the community was not surgery. It wasn't the emergency department. It was car parking.

"It took me years to get my mind around. But I have to say, it's absolutely right ... it is important to the community to be able to access their hospital."

The structure features 645 solar panels which will generate more than 300 megawatts of electricity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions of over 250 tons.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Regional Health Dr Michael Holland said the car park will make it "quicker, easier and safer" for patients to access the hospital and for staff leaving late night shifts.

"These new facilities, along with the expansion of health services, will help me meet the needs of the local communities now and into the future," he said.

Dr McGirr said now Wagga has the state of the art facilities, it's time the government worked to fix conditions for the people who staff them.

"How do we get the health workforce that we need ... The key to this is going to need to be a combination of better conditions and frankly more money for our health workforce," he said.

Dr Holland agreed and said that he hoped the facilities could help attract staff to the Riverina.

"Buildings are one thing ... but function is the important thing," he said.

"The construction of something like this is an absolute attraction to ... health professionals ... it's almost a build it and they will come."

The carpark follows the completion of the $431 million Wagga health service development in May 2021, which included a new mental health building, acute services building and the ambulatory care building.

The one final building to be completed on the campus is the recently announced UNSW Biomedical Sciences Centre, due to be complete by the end of 2023.

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