Hunter New England - Newcastle John Hunter Childrens Hospital NICU Redevelopment

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Picture of Drew Varnum
Drew Varnum Executive Director 02 4908 4999

The John Hunter Children’s Hospital (JHCH) Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) Redevelopment project was completed in June 2018.  Through the use of soft, pastel colours, natural timbers, indirect lighting and curved surfaces the project delivered a nurturing space to facilitate the health and well-being of newborns and their families.

The project  increased NICU from 42 cot bays within 850m2 to 53 cot bays within an area 2360m2 to meet national standards, to enable implementation of contemporary models of care and to support increased demand for services within the Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) and Northern NSW. NSW Public Works managed the redevelopment project which was delivered within the scheduled time frame and under budget.  In a staged program over four years, construction was completed within and around the fully operational tertiary referral hospital and without interruption to existing NICU clinical service delivery.

Led by NSW Public Works, communication and stakeholder engagement in this project made it a truly collaborative endeavour that was responsive to the needs and requirements of the hospital.  The new environment has had a dramatic difference to how people move in and around the space, and how they experience the unit and has exceeded stakeholder expectation.  The NICU project won a Newcastle Architecture Award for “Interior Architecture”.