Bass MHR Jodie Campbell announced the successful tenderer for the $98 million project, which is funded by the State and Federal governments.

Construction will be staged, with the Acute Medical Unit to be completed by November and the new Emergency Department by December 2011.

Ms Campbell said the Rudd Government had committed $40 million for the Acute Medical Unit, which will have 28 beds in single, double and 4-bed rooms, an isolation room, four high dependency beds, four post-angiography beds, a procedure room, consultation room and allied health area.

"This will transform medical care for patients and put the LGH at the front of the queue for the whole of regional Australia in the drive to provide better hospital services for communities and individuals,'' Ms Campbell said.

"These new facilities will bring medical and emergency specialists together in a process, which will be front-loaded with senior medical staff to streamline patient assessment and treatment.

"This is an important investment for the people of the North-East and I'm pleased that the timeline will see this important project delivered by the end of next year.''

FULL REPORT IN THE EXAMINER TOMORROW