More isolation rooms to manage the outbreak of infectious diseases are being considered as part of an expansion of Canberra Hospital's intensive care unit due to the impact of coronavirus.
Construction work will begin in early 2021 adding eight new beds to the intensive care unit as part of a $13.5-million upgrade funded by the federal government.
The amount of beds in intensive care will increase from 31 to 39 as part of the measures.
Work on the project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.
As part of the expansion, health officials have said increasing infection control measures such as more isolation rooms were being factored in to planning. While COVID-19 has led to the consideration of more of the measures, coronavirus would not be the only infectious disease that would be managed in those areas.
The intensive care expansion under the federal funding was originally scheduled for 2023, but was brought forward two years early after negotiations between the Commonwealth and the ACT governments.
ACT Senator Zed Seselja said the expanded intensive care unit would help to meet the needs of Canberra's growing population.
"It's important to Canberra and it's very important to the region as Canberra Hospital serves many people beyond our borders as well," Senator Seselja said.
Not all of the new beds will be open straight away once construction is completed and none of them will be dedicated paediatric beds.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the hospital would aim to grow the capacity of the expanded intensive care unit as demand grows and staffing arrangements were worked through.
"We know that in the last winter the ICU was pretty full with a busy flu season and a lot of people were getting unwell and that was close to capacity," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"You never want the ICU to be at capacity and not have that room if someone comes in with critical trauma or something that may require urgent support."
While the new intensive care beds will be ready for use in 2021, the beds will be repurposed three years later, after the new intensive care unit opens as part of the SPIRE upgrade at Canberra Hospital.
The SPIRE project, due for completion in 2024, will have 60 intensive care beds with four specialist paediatric beds in the unit.
Ms Stephen-Smith said work would be under way to determine what the eight beds set to open next year would be used for once SPIRE is completed.
"People can start to expect to see further consultation with the community [on the ward's use] after the next election, no matter who is elected," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
