The North West Regional Hospital will receive a $40 million mental health precinct as part of the first stage of a broader master plan to improve mental health services in the north-west.
Planned for a greenfield site near the recently built Burnie Ambulance Station, the new precinct will include a 22-bed inpatient unit and a five-bed short-stay unit.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Minister Roger Jaensch said the facility would provide a safe and supportive space for people in crisis.
“The Mental Health Precinct will provide essential acute mental health services and will support contemporary, best practice models of care and reflect modern standards in mental health facility design,” he said.
The planned building will have a welcoming main entrance connected to the hospital’s internal road network, offering direct access to acute services, clinical appointments and inpatient visitors.
Parking will be easily accessible and the design will incorporate healing gardens to give staff, patients and visitors the opportunity to engage with therapeutic landscapes.
The project is part of Tasmania’s wider $320 million mental health infrastructure program, which also includes the Northern Mental Health Precinct planned for Launceston General Hospital.
Construction is expected to start in late 2025, pending necessary approvals, with completion set for 2027.
