Calvary Mater staff are cautiously optimistic that action will be taken to fix the hospital's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system.
The HVAC system has been pinpointed as a key cause of deadly mould contamination at the hospital.
The Minns government has announced a $400 million "maintenance blitz" on the state's hospitals, including the Mater.
NSW Health Infrastructure chief executive Emma Skulander told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday that an audit found work needed to be done at the Mater.
"We do need to step in as quickly as we can," Ms Skulander said.
NSW Health has been conducting a building audit of the Mater this year, which includes examining the flawed HVAC system.
Ms Skulander's team received a draft report of the audit, which confirmed the HVAC needed to be upgraded and/or replaced.
She said a strategy would be needed at the Mater to "close small areas at a time" to fix the HVAC system in stages.
When asked about these comments, a Mater staffer said "staff have mixed emotions".
"We have cautious optimism that long-overdue action may finally occur," the staffer said.
"But we also have anger and disappointment that known issues were not addressed sooner, despite the risks to patients and healthcare workers."
The Newcastle Herald reported last week that NSW Health commissioned independent consultant Covaris to conduct an engineering review for Hunter New England Health in 2023-24 for "maintenance improvement" at the Mater.
The engineering report, dated June 2024, confirmed the HVAC system had "no dehumidification", which was causing mould contamination.
It had to be fixed because it was causing "poor outcomes for hospital staff and patients", the report found.
While it has been two years since then, it now appears the government is set to take action.
"Our staff have endured enough," the Mater staffer said.
"The problems have been known for years. Immediate action is now needed to rectify the Mater's outdated HVAC system."
The staffer said "a safe environment must be provided for patients and staff".
And the community's "faith and confidence in our hospital must be restored".
Inquiry chair Amanda Cohn said the government's $400 million announcement was "significant and much-needed funding for hospital infrastructure maintenance".
The government will spend the money through the "health asset and equipment renewal program", as part of the 2026-27 NSW budget.
Dr Cohn, a Greens MLC in NSW Parliament, said the government had created "a new program instead of directly funding the necessary works at the Mater".
"This is another unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle for the rectification works that were needed years ago," Dr Cohn said.
The funding follows a Herald series on the mould and maintenance scandal at the Mater.
This led to the parliamentary inquiry, which was put forward by the Coalition and backed by the Greens. Labor opposed it.
As part of the mould scandal, the Herald revealed at least 16 invasive fungal infections occurred at the Mater from 2019 to 2024. These infections have a high mortality rate.
Additionally, 120 families have registered for a class action into alleged mould-related deaths at the Mater, most of whom lost loved ones to pneumonia.
Internal documents have exposed mould and maintenance problems across several hospitals.
They showed at least two patients died at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital due to an outbreak of Aspergillus, the same mould that forced the closure of multiple wards in the Mater.
