NSW Health Media Release

12 September 2007

$91 MILLION BOOST FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

AT ROYAL NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL

The Royal North Shore Hospital redevelopment received a major boost with today's announcement that the University of Sydney will contribute $30 million towards the construction of the hospital's new education and research facility.

"The NSW Government has already committed more than $61 million in the construction of a new purpose-built facility for education and research at Royal North Shore Hospital," NSW Minister for Health, Reba Meagher, said.

"We welcome the University of Sydney's decision to contribute funding for an additional four floors of laboratory and administrative space for 200 more researchers."

The University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Professor Gavin Brown said the University was delighted to be supporting the researchers of the future.

"We see the University's contribution as an acknowledgement of the need to create dynamic collaborative environments where our best medical and scientific minds can share knowledge as well as resources," Professor Brown said.

The new Research and Education Building will give medical research and clinical teaching a strong, recognisable identity by gathering together the groups that are currently scattered across the RNS campus.

The University of Sydney's contribution will allow for the construction of an additional four floors specifically designed for medical research, allowing the new 10-storey building to accommodate up to 350 researchers.

Royal North Shore Hospital is renowned for its `bench to bedside' research philosophy, where staff members are engaged in practical research that can be applied to patient care in areas such as pain management, diabetes and cancer care.

Ms Meagher said she hoped that the University of Sydney's clear investment in medical research heralded the beginning of cooperative investment from the State and University to improve care.

"We are investing in medical research now because we are committed to providing better health care in the future," Ms Meagher said.

"I hope the University of Sydney's visionary decision will encourage other educational and corporate institutions to consider similar investments in our medical research communities."

Construction of the new Research and Education Building, due to be completed by late 2008, is the first step in a $700 million redevelopment of the Royal North Shore Hospital site.

The Research and Education Building will have its own architectural identity and discrete presence on site, but will have good connection into the new main hospital building, allowing easy flow from acute care to the research area for the many staff members engaged in active clinical research.

Ms Meagher said construction of the new Research and Education Building dovetailed into the acute services redevelopment. Work is due to commence on the new main hospital building in 2008.

Background Information

Above: Artist's impression of the new Research & Education Building

About the Royal North Shore Hospital Redevelopment

Royal North Shore Hospital and Community Health Service has been looking after people for almost 120 years. As one of Sydney's oldest and most well-respected hospitals, Royal North Shore (RNS) is renowned for compassionate patient care, world-class research and commitment to educating the health professionals of the future.

Over the next five years or so, a $702 million redevelopment of the hospital site will deliver:

• A $91 million ultra-modern facility designed specifically for research and education (including a $30 million contribution from Sydney University towards the research component)
• A new main hospital building with operating theatres, wards and a new emergency department
• A new facility for community health services.

About the RNS Research & Education (R&E) Building

The new R&E Building is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in late 2008.

It will accommodate up to 350 researchers and 60 education staff. Future expansion space has been built into the project to accommodate a further 200 researchers in the future.

The R&E Building will have its own architectural identity and discrete presence on site, but will have good connection into the new main hospital building, allowing easy flow from the acute care area to the research area for the many staff members engaged in active clinical research.

The education centre will provide teaching and training for medical, nursing students and allied health students, and ongoing professional development for RNS staff.

A combination of lecture theatres, tutorial rooms, and seminar and conference rooms will be located on the ground level. The first floor is expected to include tutorial rooms, a library, a clinical training area, a computer skills and learning lab, staff and student amenities area and an administrative zone.

The research facilities will occupy the upper levels and provide a combination of laboratory and administrative space for a range of research projects, with a capacity to share high-cost laboratory equipment and common support services.

The construction of the new research and education building is considered a priority because of the need to unlock the centre of the campus for the future development of the new main hospital building.

The project will provide new construction jobs in the short term and potential employment for additional research staff in the future.

The R&E Building is being delivered by Bovis Lend Lease as a managing contractor project.

About research at Royal North Shore Hospital

RNSH has a well-established research community with about 300 laboratory based researchers currently located on site.

Many more researchers, based outside of NSW or indeed Australia, have expressed enthusiasm to join the research community at RNSH. Until now, that enthusiasm, and the potential to welcome many more innovative and productive researchers, has been limited by physical capacity and infrastructure.

Despite these restrictions, RNSH's capacity to produce high quality and relevant research has not been compromised. The majority of medical staff are integrally involved in clinical research, embracing novel technologies that have the potential to make a difference to health outcomes. The translation of research outcomes to clinical care is only maximally appreciated by individuals cared for under a system where research is integrally involved in care.

Research at RNS has resulted in improvements in health care delivery across a range of areas including:

• Acute stenting of arteries, which increases blood flow to the heart muscle - in patients with a heart attack this has reduced death rates and complications of heart failure significantly.
• Innovations in pain management have reduced the time that individuals are incapacitated and unable to return to work or an integrated position in society
• Novel prostheses in bone and joint disease have improved functional outcome
• Early diagnosis of cancer based on genetic abnormalities has directed therapies
• Additional key areas of research relate to diabetes, kidney disease, maternal/fetal medicine and hypertension and stroke.

The Kolling Foundation (formerly known as the Northern Medical Foundation) was incorporated in 1996 and represents a coalition between Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, University of Technology Sydney, University of Sydney, researchers and the community. Located at Royal North Shore Hospital, the Foundation aims to foster outstanding health and medical research at the highest level across a wide range of programs.

About education at Royal North Shore Hospital

RNS has an active education program which includes teaching and training for medical students, nurses, students of other health disciplines, medical post-graduate staff, allied health professionals and other groups.

The Northern Clinical School is responsible for the coordination and delivery of the University of Sydney Medical Program to about one third of the Faculty of Medicine student load. It does this through the facilities of Northern Sydney Central Coast Health, utilising most of the hospitals in the lower sectors of the Area as well as private hospitals and community-based practices.

The School is based at Royal North Shore Hospital, where it also operates the Northern Clinical Skills Centre and the Pam McLean Cancer Communication Centre. These are specialised units for training in physical examination/procedural skills and clinical communication respectively. Programs have been made available to other health professional groups, junior medical officers and advanced trainees in surgery and other disciplines. The Clinical School also works collaboratively with the Sydney Medical Simulation Centre located at RNSH.

The Clinical School also oversees the studies of over 100 postgraduate research students working within the facilities of RNSH and associated hospitals.

RNSH is also well-known for its nursing education, in association with leading universities, particularly the University of Technology, Sydney. Nursing education programs include clinical placements for nursing students, enrolled nurse training programs, attainment/conversion courses (which train enrolled nurses to administer medications), ongoing development opportunities for registered and enrolled nurses, clinical leadership programs and retraining to return to work initiatives.

Ongoing staff training in a variety of areas including occupational health and safety, mandatory training and computer skills is managed by the Area's Learning and Development team.

About the University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university and conducts cutting-edge research across the broadest range of disciplines of any Australian University.

The University's research spans three broad thematic areas; the humanities and social sciences that seeks to cultivate a civil society through visionary research and artistic creation; science and technology that offers insights into the natural and physical world and provides innovative solutions that will underpin Australia's future economic prosperity; and health and medical research that encompass research from agents of disease to increased patient care. For more information, visit www.usyd.edu.au