Canberrans will be asked to weigh up whether larger open spaces or greater room to expand clinical services is more important in the next stage of the masterplan process for the Canberra Hospital campus.
The ACT government will on Friday release two indicative options for the ageing hospital campus, with staff and community members encouraged to offer input into the designs.
One option offers a large-scale central open space at the campus' centre, with a standalone logistics centre.
The second option has a smaller central open space and an underground logistics centre.
The government says both options have "ample space for long-term future expansion".
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new options had considered public feedback, along with detailed services planning and building condition assessments.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the draft options took into account the need to ensure the hospital's critical services can continue during upgrades.
"As Canberra's population continues to grow, it is vital that we invest in our health facilities to cater for this growth - and that means being prepared with a long-term plan," she said.
But neither of the two options is set in stone, with the ACT government committed to combining the preferred elements from both into the final masterplan.
The masterplan would be a "basis that allows for adaptation and response to future changes in health delivery requirements".
"We know that over the coming years the campus will need to grow to accommodate more services and more beds," the ACT government said on its consultation website.
Ms Stephen-Smith said health authorities had heard through an earlier feedback process people wanted a safe and accessible campus.
"Key themes included car parking, public transport and wayfinding, outdoor spaces and more amenities for staff, patients and visitors," she said.
An earlier consultation report found ACT residents were crying out for more parking space at the hospital, and many people wanted a designated smoking area on the campus, which went completely smoke-free in 2014.
In the first round of consultation over the plan, car parking was "the single most recurrent" issue people mentioned online and at community engagement events, the report said.
Canberrans were also concerned about finding their way around the campus, and some mentioned safety and security.
Feedback on the two masterplan proposals is open until September 1.
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The lack of masterplan for the campus has been previously blamed for the long delay in completing the expansion of the hospital.
An ACT parliamentary inquiry in August last year found an effective masterplan would have considered the complexities of expanding the hospital while still caring for patients.
The project was announced weeks before the 2016 election, but the scope and location of the project has changed significantly since.
The expansion was originally supposed to have been completed by 2022, but it is now scheduled to be completed by 2024.
Work has begun on the $600 million project, which includes more emergency department treatment spaces than originally promised.
"The increased capacity and the fit-for-purpose facilities that this project delivers, will help transform emergency and critical health care for Canberrans," Ms Stephen-Smith said last month.
