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Community and staff feedback is at the forefront of our work on the $630 million redevelopment of Fairfield Hospital.

Director of Medical Services Dr Harry Doan recently delivered an in-language presentation on the redevelopment to Fairfield Women’s Health’s Vietnamese Cultural Group.

He warned the participants that his Vietnamese is a little rusty."

I immigrated with my family when I was six years old, so if I sound like a six-year-old speaking Vietnamese, you will understand why!” he explained to a round of laughter.

More than 30 women were invited to ask questions and share their thoughts on the hospital’s redevelopment with Dr Doan, Health Infrastructure Project Director Joshua Scharfegger and Multicultural Services health officer Thi Kim Ha.

We host and attend events with diverse community groups to talk about the redevelopment.

This includes sessions with multicultural groups delivered by clinicians from Fairfield Hospital in commonly spoken languages in the area, such as Arabic, Assyrian, Vietnamese and Chinese.

Email us on swslhdfairfieldhospitalredevelopment@health.nsw.gov.au

Face painting, cultural dancing and stone art were among the fun-packed highlights of Fairfield Hospital’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, and the redevelopment team was front and centre to be part of the fun!

“The community really looks forward to, and comes together for, this deadly event,” the hospital’s Aboriginal Liaison Officer Katrina Filewood said.

“It gives local school children and our community the opportunity to participate in a full day of activities, learn about First Nations cultures and career pathway opportunities.”

Hospital Acting General Manager Cara Egan was delighted the hospital hosted the event. “We had almost 200 children, teenagers and adults attend and engage with a variety of stallholders, including NSW Ambulance, Police and Rural Fire Service,” Cara said.

“We want to thank all the local services and businesses who donated their time, goodies and food to give the school children a fun day of learning.”

Each student that attended went home with books donated by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation as well as various other lucky door prizes.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by our stall for a chat. Hopefully we inspired some of the doctors, nurses, builders, engineers and project directors of the future!

Describe the work you do on this project.

As Senior Health Planner, my role is to interpret the future needs of the local community, and plan and design a new facility – integrated with the existing facility – to deliver a major health project that enhances health care services. As an experienced clinician who is passionate about influencing health and health outcomes, the role of health planner means I get to influence a redevelopment from the project’s inception.

Work on the redevelopment is progressing. How do you feel to be part of the project?

It is exciting to be a part of a project that has the ability to support how we deliver healthcare into the future.
You were a registered nurse for several years. How does that help you on the redevelopment?

Coming from a clinical background, I am able to connect with staff and the patients, making engagement more meaningful and help drive the best outcomes through a shared understanding of health works.

When planning I also think of those clinicians working in the middle of the night and how my decision may affect them. A hospital is a 24/7 operation and that’s what makes it so dynamic.

What has been your proudest professional achievement?

I have been so fortunate in my career to transition from a registered nurse into a pivotal role in redevelopment across many, many projects.

Proudest achievement? It was the day the Westmead Central Acute Services went live and the building came to life! To see the positive reactions of the staff and the patients is something I will always remember.

Complete this sentence. In my spare time I… love to spend time with my beautiful fur babies. Ruby, Bailey and the newest edition, our little rescue cavoodle, Honey. I also love researching my next holiday and adding destinations to my bucket list that I hope to tick off one day.

What's happening now?

Over the last few months, the Fairfield Hospital Redevelopment team has been busy meeting with
hundreds of staff to start mapping out the new clinical services building.

"Clinical experts from across the hospital have been reviewing documents, which guide the design and ensure that the new facilities support the way we want to work in the future,” Acting General Manager Cara Egan said.

These documents, called functional briefs, will lead to the next milestone in the redevelopment – the concept design – which outlines the arrangement of departments in the new building, and how they relate to the existing hospital.

“We are still at the start of the process and there will be lots of opportunities for staff and the community to get involved," Cara said.

What's happening next?

• The first block diagrams for the new clinical services building will be released in the coming months.
• Staff and the community will be invited to provide feedback on these designs.
• A planning application is in the pipeline to begin early works on the car park expansion.
• Design consultation process will start for each hospital department.