Upper-level slab at Geraldton Health Campus poured, Premier Roger Cook expects completion by early 2026

The State Government says it is pleased by the progress of the Geraldton Health Campus redevelopment, with the Premier expecting the project to be completed in early 2026. Roger Cook was in Geraldton on Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the upper level and the progress made at the site. He said he was impressed by how quickly the project was moving along. “We’re at the point where we’re not topping off, but we’ve reached the top of the building in terms of floor levels, and you can really see it starting to take shape,” he said. “I was here just a few short months ago and they had made substantial progress then, but I’m astounded at the rate of change that we see on this building site.” Pouring of the upper floor and roof-suspended slabs, as well as stairways and lift core, have been completed, while the next steps include the ground-level slab being extended through to the existing hospital and start of the first floor columns. The redevelopment, which started earlier this year with the main contract awarded to Multiplex, was an election promise for Labor back in 2017 to create an expanded emergency department, a new intensive care unit and high-dependency unit, and mental health services. Originally with a price tag of $73.3 million, the budget has since blown out to $166m. While a number of services have been included for the redevelopment, an oncology unit is yet to be committed to by the State Government. The WA Liberals promised $25m towards an oncology unit in Geraldton if they form government at the election next year. Mr Cook said at this stage no funding had been allocated towards bringing the service to the region, but discussions were ongoing. “We continue to see cancer-based services provided through St John of God, which we fund. In partnership with St John of God,” he said. “We are continuing to look at how else we can expand hospital services here at the Geraldton campus.” Mr Cook said the mental health unit at the hospital would be beneficial in the region, saving people travel time by having a locally based service. “Mental health services here is such an important component of this hospital because it means that people who are suffering from acute mental health issues do not have to travel down to the city,” he said. “This particular campus will be able to provide high-level mental health services for the people of the Mid West.” Although an official time line wasn’t provided, Mr Cook said he expected the redevelopment to be finished in early 2026. “By this time next year, we’ll be at the end stages of completion,” he said. “Chatting to the teams, they’re really pleased with the progress that’s been made so we expect by early 2026 this building will be pretty much ready to go.” Mr Cook said seven Mid West businesses were benefiting from contracts worth more than $5m. These businesses include HTD Surveyors, Abrolhos Steel, Protect Security, Sun City Plumbers, Crothers Construction, Oaks Civil Construction and Ronan Commercial Cleaning.