SA Repat site will continue to serve community
The iconic Repatriation General Hospital site in South Australia is set to become an integrated redevelopment providing a range of residential care options, private health facilities, and community facilities.
The iconic Repatriation General Hospital site in South Australia is set to become an integrated redevelopment providing multiple care options.
Built in 1942, the hospital's primary objective was to care for wounded veterans. In 1943 and 1944, the hospital's capacity peaked at 1000 beds as servicemen and women returned from World War II.
Last year, the SA Government formally announced plans to close the 300-bed hospital and commenced an expressions-of-interest process to determine its future.
The successful bid by the RSL consortium, which includes RSL SA, RSL Care SA and RSL Life Care, will invest $125 million redeveloping the site into a Veteran’s and community centre of excellence known as RSL Repat Park.
RSL State President, Brigadier Tim Hanna AM says: “As the peak organisation for Veterans in South Australia, we are extremely proud to become the new caretakers of the iconic Repat site.
Our mission will be to create a Veteran’s and Community Centre of Excellence that cares for the health and wellbeing of our community, as well as commemorating the more than 70 years of Veteran history at the Repat.”
The residential component of the plans will deliver residential aged care, including dementia and mental health, retirement living, affordable housing and special housing needs, such as housing for homeless Veterans.
Mr Nathan Klinge RSL Care SA Chief Executive Officer confirms that subject to planning approvals, an 80-bed residential care facility was planned on the site.
“While the exact size and scale of our affordable housing and retirement living communities is yet to be finalised, both communities will be open for use by members of the ex-Service community as well as the broader public,” he says.
Concerns from the community have previously been raised about the loss of services from the site, and the RSL Repat Park proposal also includes privately provided health services, such as allied health care, day therapy, hydrotherapy outpatient services, and primary health care.
“RSL Care SA understands that SA Health will relocate the Repat’s Hospice Service to the Flinders Medical Centre,” Mr Klinge confirms.
“Daw House, which currently accommodates the Hospice Service and is a grand and important building for the site, will be retained for use as a Community Centre for the retirement village.”
The Repat Chapel, SPF Hall and Museum and Remembrance Garden will be maintained and enhanced, including the proposed development of a remembrance walk with 31 plaques detailing Australia’s military history.
While the site handover to the consortium will be in late 2017, Mr Klinge highlights the RSL Repat Park is a long-term project.
“Subject to the terms of the handover with SA health some aspects of the development will certainly occur quite quickly, in a matter of months, but others will purposefully take much longer and will be largely dictated by market conditions (such as the planned release of retirement living in stages),” he says.
