At the helm of Redcliffe Hospital expansion

A Redcliffe Hospital transforms over the next four years, new Executive Director Cang Dang will be juggling Queensland Health’s biggest construction project with patient care and recruiting 3000 staff.

Mr Dang was excited to step into the role at Redcliffe Hospital three months ago and has been part of four major builds’ during his 25-year career with Queensland Health. 

“It is the biggest build in the state at the moment at $1.1 billion. It’s actually going to be the single biggest physical asset that Queensland Health owns once it’s completed,” he says.

It’s an ‘opportunity to try to get this one as right as possible’, but Mr Dang concedes many decisions are already ‘in-train’. It’s his role to influence what he can, to get the best outcome for the community and his team.

Preparatory work has started, with construction of a nine-storey clinical services building expected to begin later this year.

The full project will deliver 204 new beds, ambulatory care and a significant expansion of existing services including theatres, birthing, endoscopy and a range of other clinical and support services. It is expected to be finished in 2028, weather and construction conditions permitting.

Mr Dang says the expanded hospital will bring care closer to home for many patients and hopefully meet surging demand due to ongoing population growth.

“We know the growth is here, we know the pressure is here, we’re the busiest we’ve ever seen it. Clinicians were saying to me just last week, we’ve never seen it this busy for such a sustained period,” he says.

Surging demand

Redcliffe Hospital’s patients come from a large geographical footprint which takes in the City of Moreton Bay and north Brisbane.

“We have an extra 204 beds due to open in 2027 or 2028, but the thing is we need those beds now,” Mr Dang explains.

“Part of my role is (to work out) what do we do now to actually accommodate current needs. In Redcliffe, we’ve got a u-curve in the population – high paediatric/family population and a high elderly population but not much in the middle.”

The new paediatric emergency department has experienced a surge in demand since it opened one year ago.

Mr Dang says key to his role is balancing the health needs of a growing population with inevitable disruption during a major construction project.

“Part of that is ... which services in the old hospital move over to the new hospital and how do we shut down areas safely, physically move entire wards and still run the hospital,” he says.

“That’s part of our sequencing planning. That’s all in the planning stage at the moment.”

Mr Dang says the redevelopment is in the final phase of detailed design.

“It’s the last stage of the capital development. Once detailed design is locked in ... then I can lock in models of care behind that. It’s hard to do a model of care until you know what space you’re going in,” he explains.

“If you do a great model of care and put it in the wrong space, it won’t flow properly. Once we have that, then I’ll have a better indication of the sequencing in terms of what will go in first and what will go up first ... where do we hit (the) start (button) first.”

Community connection

Residents and patients will be involved in community consultation forums as plans progress.

Mr Dang says one of the challenges the team has already encountered is finding asbestos ‘every time they dig’.

There are also concerns about a historic and culturally significant ‘scar tree’ on the site.

“It’s a very challenging piece right now, given the stage we’re up to in the build. It’s probably hard for me to say where we’re going to land, but we’re currently consulting with the Kabi Kabi people and the board Chair ... looking at how we actually have the conversation to look at what we can do now,” Mr Dang says.

“The unfortunate thing is, at this point in time, the tree is located in a major foundation of the new hospital build ... literally in one of the corners of the hospital ... anything that happens in that space will have a significant impact on the building design at a very late stage.”

Staff and the community have a close connection with Redcliffe Hospital, forged over almost 60 years.

“Redcliffe has a very community feel to it. You walk through, everyone knows everyone else. It’s one of our strengths but it can also be a challenge for us because when you recruit 3000 staff, you’re literally doubling the numbers. It’s not a change, it’s an actual transformation,” Mr Dang says.

At present, a high percentage of staff who work at the hospital live on the Peninsula, but with an influx of thousands of new staff it is expected half will live elsewhere.

Mr Dang says it will be important to bring the expanded team together and create a culture that makes sense in this community.

“I’ve been in Queensland Health for 24-25 years ... I’ve never come to a hospital where the culture and the staff has been so amazing. Everyone, genuinely, is here to help people and are so collaborative and punch above their belt level, so to speak.”

He says what the hospital is already achieving, compared with others across the state, is impressive.

“Redcliffe is an amazing place. Everyone is so proud of being part of Redcliffe and I’m so fortunate to be part of this now too,” Mr Dang says.