Premier Dominic Perrottett and Health Minister Brad Hazzard visited the city on Friday to do the honours alongside Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman. Mayor Bob Kirk also attended the Goulburn Base Hospital event.

READ MORE:

Goulburn Base Hospital scores funding for MRI equipment

VIDEO | Goulburn Base Hospital redevelopment turns first sod

Goulburn resident Richard Cudaj campaigns for MRI service at hospital

Health District prepares business case for Goulburn MRI service

Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman to circulate petition for MRI service

Construction company Hansen Yuncken handed over the four-storey site in October for commissioning and fit-out. The $165 million development includes a main entry and hospital reception; emergency department; medical imaging department; intensive care unit; operating theatres, day surgery and recovery areas; medical, surgical, paediatric, rehabilitation inpatient units with four palliative care beds; a five-bed maternal and newborn unit, birthing suite and special care nursery, as well as paediatric and antenatal outpatient units.

Mr Perrottet said the facility would "future proof" health services in the region, while Mr Hazzard said the unification of "state-of-the art" facilities under one roof would provide "seamless care in a modern facility."

"With a new emergency department and intensive care unit and the latest digital theatres, this purpose-built facility will greatly improve the hospital experience for patients, carers and staff," he said.

"...Goulburn is certainly a town that deserves a major hospital."

The hospital upgrade does not increase bed numbers. A Southern NSW Local Health District spokeswoman confirmed the 100 beds matched those previously available at Goulburn Base and Bourke Street Health Service.

ALSO READ: 'An incredible experience': Country cop at heart steps down after 40 years

The new facility includes 28 beds each in the medical and surgical units, 32 in the rehabilitation unit, five maternity and six in the paediatric area.

Project lead and former Goulburn Health Service general manager Kerry Hort said while bed numbers hadn't changed, it was a different mix.

Asked whether five maternity beds were sufficient in Goulburn Mulwaree's growing population, Ms Hort said the numbers were based on projections.

"It is a different model of care and that's the key. We now have seven-day a week midwife support, enabling mothers to go home earlier and be cared for. We have been working on that model for a while."

She described the new birthing rooms as "beautiful."

Media were unable to tour the facility due to COVID restrictions. However Mayor Bob Kirk said he was impressed by its spaciousness and 'endless' facilities during a recent sneak peek.

Mr Hazzard told The Post the development remained within budget. In June, the government allocated an extra $15m for an MRI machine, a sterilising unit fit-out, a CT scanner and a transitional living brain injury unit.

But despite community campaigns and a new room built to accommodate the MRI machine, a federal government licence for the equipment appears no closer.

Mr Hazzard said Health had managed to secure licences for many other hospitals but was unsuccessful with Goulburn's.

"We have spoken to the federal government asking whether it was possible for Goulburn and a number of others to have a licence (outside the formal rounds) in anticipation of the service setting up," he said.

"At this stage we don't have a positive answer. But from my experience, persistence pays off. We are actively lobbying for it. The community voice has been heard."

ALSO READ: 'People are skiting about living here': proud mayor hopes to lead into the future

Partnering with a private provider was one option. But Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman said the Health District was working on the exact delivery model. Mr Hazzard told The Post he'd prefer it to be available free to patients, under a federal Medicare licence, rather than NSW taxpayers heavily subsidising it.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the federal health department said a Medicare licence wasn't required for Goulburn Base Hospital to provide MRI services free of charge to public patients.

"This is because the NSW Government has already committed to providing services, including MRI services, free of charge to patients under the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA)," she said.

"To this end, the Southern NSW Local Hospital Network, that the Goulburn Base Hospital is a part of, receives significant funding from the Australian government through the NHRA."

ALSO READ: Runners line up in council field as time ticks down to election

Ms Tuckerman said she would have loved for for the MRI to be in place for the opening but acknowledged health teams had been stretched with the COVID response.

Meantime, Ms Hort described Friday's event as a "special occasion."

She has overseen the project since planning started in 2014.

"We've been in the building one week and it's very exciting for all of us who have been working in the background on this beautiful new hospital," she said.

"We've been wanting to do something for Goulburn Hospital for a long time and when we were decommissioning the old section last week we realised just how important it was to have a new space for staff and patients to be cared for."

The facility unites medical imaging teams in one location, as opposed to the four previous sites. Emergency patients now have more privacy and there are ample rooms for patients' relatives to stay over, along with tea and coffee making areas. Ms Hort said the operating theatres were modern, and incorporated a day surgery.

Enclosed terraces with large windows are features of the main wards.

Oncology services will remain at Bourke Street Health Service until ready for transition to Goulburn Base.

Now, attention will turn to final works, including a new 'heritage walkway' linking the old and new part of the hospital. A front building will be demolished, along with the former maternity section fronting Albert Street and the west wing. All of this work will be completed by the end of 2022.

A slice of the extra $15m will be spent refurbishing the old section.

Federal funding will also be committed to an ANU clinical training facility on the hospital site, with a call for tenders imminent.

ALSO READ: Did you know Goulburn once had extensive market gardens?

Ms Hort thanked departmental staff, saying all had strong input into the set up and had managed last week's transition to the new building without fuss.

"I'm just so proud of them; they're amazing," she said.

"...A staff member thanked me this week, saying they loved their new space. That's what makes it so rewarding; it's the cherry on top."

Do you have something to say about this issue? Send a letter to the editor. Click here for the Goulburn Post