Govt has picked top of car park next to LGH as site for new patient emergency helipad

The new helipad will be built on the roof of the Cleveland Street multi-storey car park, located adjacent to the LGH and just 150 metres to the west of the LGH's south entrance.

Premier and Minister for Health, Jeremy Rockliff, said that the new location met all the necessary requirements for an upgraded helipad in line with Stage 2 of the LGH Masterplan.

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"The LGH helipad is a critical resource for the pre-hospital care and emergency transportation of Tasmanians, and we have found a safe and efficient long-term solution," Mr Rockliff said.

"The new rooftop location will allow for the construction of a new state-of-the-art, contemporary helipad that provides efficient patient transfer to the Emergency Department, ICU and theatres," he said.

The various state health stakeholders - the Department of Health, the LGH and Ambulance Tasmania - will work with helicopter operator Rotor-lift to design the site and progress the required regulatory and planning approvals.

Hospitals North chief executive, Jen Duncan, said the new helipad would ensure emergency patients got the best possible care.

"It will ensure patients who require aero-medical transportation to and from the LGH will get to the right clinical area for their needs safely and efficiently," Ms Duncan said.

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The use of the existing helipad in Ockerby Gardens to the immediate south of the hospital was suspended at the end of December, after new rules from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority imposed tighter requirements on helipads used for medical transport.

As a result, helicopters transporting patients to and from the hospital instead began landing at the Launceston Airport, some 13km away.

A public backlash over the change followed.

Families of medivac patients were dismayed at the extra delay in getting loved ones to the emergency department when minutes count.

Union leaders accused the Health Department of "dropping the ball" by not preparing for the helipad's likely closure after being informed of its unsuitability by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority months earlier.

CASA confirmed it made public four years ago the rule changes that made the LGH helipad in Ockerby Gardens unsuitable for helicopters.

Ambulance Tasmania will continue to use the Launceston Airport as the landing site while the new helipad is constructed, according to the state government.

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