The $14.9 million Bunbury Critical Care Project was made possible through $14.1 million from the Commonwealth's Taking Pressure Off Public Hospitals program for expansion of the emergency department (ED) and establishment of the short stay unit. The State Government invested $800,000 to develop the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The project outcomes included:

• establishment of an adult ICU Level 1* facility funded by the State Government - a first for rural WA (Stage 1)
• expansion of the ED (Stage 2)
• establishment of an ED “Fast Track” unit and a 10 bed Short Stay Unit (Stage 3).

Here you can find out more about the three separate stages which helped shape the Bunbury Critical Care Unit.

Stage 1 completed: improved Intensive Care Unit

The building, engineering services and equipment upgrade works to provide full ICU facilities were completed in early 2011.  The ICU Level 1 has been fully operational since December 2012 with full intensive care specialist cover.

The ICU service in Bunbury enables care closer to home for many South West people who might otherwise need to be transferred to Perth. The ICU also has the capacity to take patients from the Great Southern and adjacent parts of the Wheatbelt.

* In Australia, hospital ICUs are defined by the complexity of care they can safely provide. They range from Level 1 services that provide short term care for general adult patients through to Level 3 services that can provide longer term and more complex intensive care.

As an adult Intensive Care Level 1 service, the Bunbury ICU is expected to cater for around 25% of patients who require admission to an intensive care unit.

Patients who require very complex or extended care will still be transferred to one of the major Level 2/3 type ICU facilities in Perth.

Stage 2 completed: more ED treatment bays

Construction of the expanded ED to increase the number of treatment bays was completed in May 2013 and became fully operational in June 2013.

Stage 3 completed: fast-track and short-stay units

The redevelopment of the vacated former ED space into the “See and Treat” (Fast Track) and Short Stay Units was completed in late 2013.

Overall the redeveloped Critical Care facilities and services include:

• eight bed dedicated adult High Dependency/Intensive Care Unit
• twenty seven Emergency Department treatment bays including Fast Track
• ten bed Short Stay Unit

The redeveloped critical care departments at Bunbury Hospital support improved models of emergency care and provide a dedicated unit for short stays or overnight patients.