The first major concrete pour has been completed for the new $1.8 billion Women and Babies Hospital in Murdoch, marking a significant milestone in Western Australia's largest hospital building program.
Project Overview
The four-year project will see a 12-storey hospital constructed within the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct. The facility will expand services for women and infants, offering advanced inpatient facilities for gynaecology and maternity patients, a neonatology unit for newborns, operating theatres, a family birth centre, and outpatient clinics. Two multi-deck carparks will also be built to accommodate increased patient capacity.
Construction Milestones
Major works began on Tuesday, May 19, with approximately 2,200 cubic metres of concrete poured over 12 hours to create the hospital base. Subsequent pours will form a 10,000-square-metre ground slab, roughly half the size of Optus Stadium. The first of eight tower cranes arrived on site, standing 35 metres tall and capable of lifting 13 tonnes. All cranes are fully electric to reduce emissions.
Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the project would strengthen WA's healthcare system. "This unprecedented expansion of our public health system will deliver a significant increase in bed capacity to meet our growing community needs with modern, purpose-built facilities," she said.
Health Infrastructure Minister John Carey noted the rapid pace of progress. "The first major concrete pour and arrival of the first of eight tower cranes has occurred about six months after breaking ground on the new Women and Babies Hospital," he said. "We are also delivering a new emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital and new and upgraded hospitals across regional WA."
The project, alongside a major facilities expansion at Osborne Park Hospital, represents WA's biggest hospital building program, with the Cook Government investing $5.5 billion. Activity is expected to accelerate, with above-ground structures and main floors anticipated to start before the end of the year.
