As Women's and Children's Hospital staff are presented with a cardboard model of what their replacement building will look like, the new SA government says it could be forced to change the proposed site because of a $100 million budget blowout.
Fresh doubts have emerged around the future of Adelaide's new Women's and Children's Hospital project, after the state government revealed it was prepared to move away from the proposed site.
Mr Picton said the expected cost of the project was now in excess of $2 billion — significantly more than the $1.95 billion previously forecast and now approaching the $2.3 billion cost of the new RAH, which was reported to be Australia's most expensive building when it opened in 2017. "It's obviously got good close connectivity with the Royal Adelaide Hospital but that needs to be measured against the other limitations of that site to make sure that it's on the right track, and we'll be doing that very rapidly."Mr Picton said the $100 million cost increase was on top of Labor's commitment to fit an extra 50 beds into the hospital, which remains government policy.
"We've been seeing it on paper for some time now so it's nice to get an idea of what the rooms are actually going to be like," obstetrician Aimee Wiltshire said. But retired obstetrician Warren Jones, from campaign group the Women's and Children's Hospital Alliance, said staff he had spoken to remain dissatisfied not only with the consultation process but with the proposed new building.