Stage one of Launceston General Hospital's Ward 4K redevelopment will not be completed until the first quarter of 2020, the government has confirmed.
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The $20 million redevelopment's first stage, including the state's first adolescent mental health unit, was due to be completed in October.
However a government spokesperson said in the interest of minimising disruption to patient care during construction, it had been necessary to delay works, particularly around the demolition phase.
"The Ward 4K redevelopment is occurring around an operational part of the hospital and, as such, the wellbeing and needs of patients will always take precedence over building works," the spokesman said.
"There continues to be significant progress on Ward 4K, including the completion of excavation works and the installation of base electrical and mechanical infrastructure."
The government's LGH master plan - expected to set out the infrastructure requirements for the next 50 years of health service delivery in Northern Tasmania - was also due to be released by the end of 2019.
The spokesperson said the plan was "progressing", including consideration of a co-located private hospital.
"Clinical service planners are currently examining and evaluating service provision, and a northern reference group with local clinicians and health professionals has commenced meeting to ensure proper consultation and feedback," they said.
"Importantly, the community will also have an opportunity to be involved in this extensive process."
It comes after calls from stakeholders for greater transparency around Calvary Health Care's unsolicited private hospital bid, which is before the office of the Coordinator-General.
Health and Community Services Union Tasmania assistant secretary Robbie Moore said frontline staff remained "out of the loop" on what the future of the LGH would look like.
"They are not talking to the people who they need to be talking to, both at Calvary's end and at the Health Departments end," he said.
"The experts are the people on the ground, working in the health service. If they don't know what is going on, how can you say a proper consultation process is being followed."
A government spokesperson said the office of the Coordinator-General was leveraging the expertise of key stakeholders.
"The insights from this group have been critical in ensuring that the proposal will provide value across the health sector and not be a siloed project," they said.
Calvary's St Luke's and St Vincent's hospitals' general manager Grant Musgrave said detailed planning and consultation with their clinicians and staff was progressing well.
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
