Small amount of asbestos found in soil at South West Health Campus ahead of redevelopment

A small amount of asbestos containing material has been found in the soil at the South West Health Campus ahead of Bunbury Regional Hospital’s $200 million redevelopment. The asbestos is set to be removed as part of preliminary remediation works, ahead of the redevelopment. Hospital director Jeff Calver stressed that it was still safe to attend the campus. “It’s really important to be clear that the levels of ACM (asbestos containing material) are not considered a risk to anyone’s health and safety,” he said. “Importantly we are taking proactive action to ensure the impacted area of the car park remains safe to use. “It remains completely safe to attend South West Health Campus.” The work is set to put a temporary parking strain on the hospital, with more than 100 bays for both visitors and staff set to be unavailable, but Mr Calver said the redevelopment will ease parking pressure in the long run. “Our patients and staff have told us there are parking pressures at the facility and we’ve listened and we are acting,” he said. “Bunbury Regional Hospital’s redevelopment factors in more car bays than ever before but first, we must undertake this important preliminary work.” The emergency entrance as well as patient set down and pick up points are still accessible, as is a portion of the main carpark. A park and ride service will be set up to take staff to the hospital from nearby Hay Park, which will help ease the parking strain for visitors and patients.