St John WA’s Albany crew begin two-stage move to exciting new sub-centre after 29 years in crammed building

After seven years of planning, staff and volunteers at St John WA’s Albany sub-centre are finally moving into their new Centennial Park home, with the district boss thrilled to “finally have some space”. The new sub-centre at 76 Sanford Road has 18 undercover ambulance bays, offices, first aid training spaces, meeting rooms, volunteer break rooms and kitchen, quiet rest areas, storerooms and secure parking. Great Southern district operations manager Toni Melia said the team had completely outgrown its former Middleton Road location, which had been in use since 1996. “We’ve gone from nine paramedics to 15 paramedics in the last six to eight months, so our staff has grown a lot,” she said. “That means we need extra space for vans and for people to be able to relax and recuperate in between jobs. “One of our key factors is that we know that the community is growing and our job numbers grow between 3 to 5 per cent generally each year, and we know that we are going to continue to grow into the future. “We wanted to futureproof and make sure that we’ve got facilities available moving forward.” First aid sessions have been held offsite for more than two years because of limited space at the former site. Staff and volunteers also had to park across the road at Albany Senior High School. “It was very difficult for our staff as we were constantly having to move vehicles and change around,” Ms Melia said. “And then, of course, we’ve got the volunteers and the staff who couldn’t all park in the secure parking. “Now we’ve got a lovely big secure carpark for them to be able to be safe all hours of the day and night when they come in to do jobs, and a rest area for them to recuperate.” The undercover ambulance bay can hold the sub-centre’s nine ambulances, as well as the mass casualty and training vehicles — a factor Ms Melia said was a “huge improvement” on the outside bays at the former centre. “It also means that our crews, when they’re doing restocking and everything else, are also protected from the elements outside, which is great,” she said. The move has been staggered in two stages, with the paramedics and volunteers set to shift on Thursday to join the office staff, who made their move last Friday. A formal opening is scheduled for March.