THE construction company that would build the proposed Bathurst Integrated Medical Centre remains confident in the future of the facility, despite the Orange Private Hospital going into voluntary administration.
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The private hospital is part of the Bloomfield Medical building in Orange, which was built by the developer behind the BIMC project and later sold to Centuria Healthcare Property Fund.
David Kennedy, Morgan Kelly and Robyn Duggan of accounting firm Ernst and Young were appointed as voluntary administrators of Orange Private Hospital on Tuesday, May 23.
The jobs of more than 100 staff are now at risk if a buyer can't be found.
Zauner Constructions will build the yet-to-be-approved BIMC, and managing director Garry Zauner has expressed confidence in the future of the proposed facility.
However, in light of the news out of Orange, he admitted there are no guarantees.
"Major projects such as these take enormous energy and effort to deliver and appropriate funding, and they are best approached step-by-step and accordingly there can be no guarantees," he said.
"The first step in the BIMC is to secure a planning approval and development approvals. This is well on the way and is trending positively, with overwhelming community support to date, for which we are grateful.
"While the OPH issue is nothing to do with Zauner corporately, we trust that the administrator can source an operator soon in order to secure the future of OPH as, while it is only one of the components of the Orange Medical facility, it is a very valuable one to the Orange community."
The BIMC would include a private hospital, but is also planned to be home to other allied health services and professionals, including specialists.
A development consortium is working to bring the facility to the former Clancy Motors site in Howick Street.
Mr Zauner said they were approached by the Bathurst community to bring a medical facility similar to the one in Orange, and another in Albury, to Bathurst.
He said the Bathurst area was "similar in structure, demographics and medical need" to Orange and Albury, making it a good location for an integrated medical centre.
"As a regional city of significance, Bathurst is similar to both Albury and Orange; we remain hopeful that BIMC will be supported," Mr Zauner said.
The BIMC proposal had a victory in December, 2022, when Bathurst Regional Council resolved to adopt a site-specific amendment to the Local Environment Plan (LEP) that will allow for a building of the proposed height and floor space ratio, provided it is an integrated medical centre.
Due to the cost of the development, it has been deemed state significant, and therefore Bathurst council won't be the authority that can provide development consent.
The process to bring the BIMC to fruition is continuing, with the lodgement of a development application (DA) imminent.
"We are currently working with the NSW Planning on the planning proposal for the site and then the lodging of the DA in July August of this year," Mr Zauner said.
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Rachel Chamberlain
I have been a journalist at the Western Advocate since 2014.
I have been a journalist at the Western Advocate since 2014.
