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New Women’s and Children’s Hospital Project
Acknowledgement
The Women's and Children's Hospital is located on the traditional lands for the Kaurna people, and we respect their spiritual relationship with their Country. We also acknowledge that the Kaurna people are the custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have passed away.

New WCH Legislation Passes Parliament

nWCH News
Posted 17 Nov 2022

Legislation to fast-track the development of the New Women’s and Children’s Hospital (New WCH) has passed through both houses of parliament, allowing the next stage of planning works to begin on our new, world-class hospital.

The New Women’s and Children’s Hospital Bill 2022 streamlines existing planning and development requirements that could increase the new hospital’s cost and construction timeframe.

The changes will help ensure the delivery of a bigger and better hospital on a larger site, with capacity for 414 beds – 76 more beds than the current WCH.

A recent site review commissioned by the State Government found the Thebarton Barracks site was the most clinically suitable of six site options in the Adelaide BioMed City precinct, and would deliver the best long-term outcomes for the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and New WCH.

The new, larger site located near the RAH provides both hospitals with room for future expansion and the flexibility required to meet clinical needs now and into the future.

It also greatly increases the accessibility to Park Lands around the new hospital for staff, consumers and the community.

Key clinical benefits of the New WCH include:

  • 56 additional beds, delivering the government’s election commitment of 50 additional beds.
  • Built-in capacity for an additional 20 beds, taking the total number of overnight beds to 414.
  • A four-bed Intensive Care Unit for women, co-located with the Paediatric ICU.
  • Critical care services all on one floor – including birthing, theatres, 23-hour ward, Paediatric ICU and Neonatal ICU.
  • A dedicated heliport with direct access to critical clinical areas, which was not possible on the previous site.

Our staff, clinicians, consumers and volunteers are vital to the design of our new hospital. Their ongoing involvement and input will continue in the next planning and design stages to ensure our new world-class facility provides South Australian families with access to the most advanced hospital care, technology and medical research for generations to come.