The West Australian Health Minister has defended the state government's decision to delay upgrades on the Peel Health Campus emergency department until October.
On Wednesday, the state government confirmed construction, which was due to begin in February, would be postponed until October 1 amid concerns of a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Construction on the emergency department and short stay ward were set to include a new fast-track triage area with improved patient privacy, new waiting room and seven additional beds.
However, the Department of Health said they were concerned works would temporarily halve the emergency department waiting room capacity - preventing isolation of patients from those with possible coronavirus.
Construction is now not set to begin until October 1 as part of the state government's pandemic preparation.
Health Minister Roger Cook told the Mandurah Mail upgrades could start sooner if the COVID-19 situation is resolved.
"Our priority must be the health and safety of patients, staff and the community, which is why we made this decision," he said.
"The impact of these works was always going to be to the existing patient waiting and triage areas.
"However, to ensure continuity of service and to meet the needs of the Mandurah and Peel community, administration areas within the emergency department area were to be utilised with administration staff to be accommodated within two transportable buildings, to be installed.
"The two transportable buildings could be utilised as a COVID-19 clinic, should this be required at the campus."
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Shadow Health Minister and Dawesville MP Zak Kirkup said the upgrades of an already-stretched Peel Health Campus were needed now more than ever.
Mr Kirkup labelled the announcement as "not surprising but is disappointing".
"No one in our community would be happy to learn of this delay, especially in the face of a lot of uncertainty and a globally disruptive threat surrounding COVID-19," he said.
"The reality is, we wouldn't be in this position if the Premier had listened to our community and initiated upgrade works years earlier.
"Our hospital emergency department hasn't expanded since 1997 and our local doctors and nurses are under a massive strain because of a lack of resourcing from this government.
"That simply isn't good enough. Mandurah really deserves better."
The emergency department upgrades are now expected to be completed before mid-2021.
"Once the works commence, the upgrades will take approximately seven to eight months to complete as per the original schedule, excluding any break over the Christmas and New Year period," Mr Cook said.