Calvary Health Care

Calvary Health Care is partnering with Barwon Investment Partners Pty Ltd, owners of the campus, to deliver a contemporary Calvary John James Hospital as the centrepiece of a modern healthcare precinct and innovation hub in Deakin, ACT.

Barwon has completed a master-planning exercise for the site to create opportunities for an integrated health ecosystem to include life sciences, clinical trials, education and training, research facilities, specialist services and other healthcare related activities.

Adjacent to the new hospital, the precinct will include the existing Peter Yorke Building; a specialist centre for medical offices and consulting suites, medical imaging, and dialysis services among other specialties.

The planned Peter Yorke Building 2 will be the gateway to the vibrant healthcare precinct, located at the main entry of the site.

In addition, the precinct will have on-grade parking to ensure convenience for patients, staff and visitors.

The Calvary John James Executive and Calvary Infrastructure Development team will be representing Calvary on the redevelopment project.

The proposed redevelopment of Calvary John James Hospital signifies Calvary’s commitment to serving the community of Canberra and the surrounding capital region.

Calvary has a proud history in the ACT and has operated this hospital since 2006. Calvary is excited to partner with Barwon Investment Partners to bring to life a private hospital that will meet the health needs of the growing community and provide an environment where visiting medical officers, nurses, allied health professionals, and support staff can thrive.

This proposed development will replace ageing infrastructure that supports modern models of healthcare, and the transformation of the campus into a healthcare precinct will attract specialist services, clinical trials, research, education and training opportunities to benefit the broader community.

The hospital redevelopment would ensure Calvary John James Hospital continues to support staff in providing quality surgical and medical services, as well as maintaining delivery of the only private maternity unit and only purpose-built private rehabilitation unit in Canberra.

Barwon Investment Partners is committed to spending more than $500m across the repositioned healthcare precinct.

Calvary has reviewed existing operations and forecast demand data to determine the proposed accommodation and services appropriate for the redeveloped hospital.

This includes:

• 98 inpatient beds including maternity, special care nursery and adult intensive care

• 10 cutting-edge operating theatres with endoscopy facilities accommodated

• pre-operative holding bays

• recovery stage 1 / 2 & 3 (beds and chairs)

• Central Sterilising Services Department (CSSD)

• access to a privately tenanted on-site radiology (Landlord tenant)

• rehabilitation gymnasium.

Sustainability and energy efficient services are being considered and will be developed in detail design.

The redevelopment will demolish and build over part of the decommissioned Yarralumla Ward. The Deakin ward will be refurbished.

The redevelopment will require significant construction methodology planning and ongoing hospital interface management, these plans will be developed over the coming months.

There will be no reduction in the quality of patient care, and those relocations and /or temporary movement of services will be provided with appropriate consultation and notification.

The existing hospital will be repurposed to fit into the overall masterplan for the Deakin campus, transforming into health spaces suitable for consulting, clinical trials, education and training, and life sciences.

Patients will experience no reduction in the high quality of care provided at Calvary John James Hospital. Disruptions will be minimised and those affected will be informed of any planned changes.

Every effort will be made to maintain existing parking allocations for staff, patients and visitors, as work progresses.

Vehicle access and car parking on campus and in surrounding streets will be altered, however disruptions will be minimised, and timely notification will be provided for planned changes once pre-construction commences.

The number of spaces will be calculated in accordance with the ACT planning requirements and subject to the consent approval.

Construction is expected to commence by the first half of 2026, subject to planning approvals.

The construction of the new hospital is likely to take 24 months. There will be a hospital commissioning period that will follow completion of the building prior to go-live.

A construction project usually includes three main stages:

• Planning: including the Development Application lodgement

• Design Development: running parallel to Planning

• Delivery: construction.

The development application for the proposed redevelopment was lodged on 6 February 2025 and will be made publicly available by the consent authority.

To inform and finalise the design stage, the project team will be consulting specialty reference user groups from across the hospital. Representatives will be invited to attend these user groups in the coming months.