NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, Member for Dubbo Troy Grant and health executives, outlined the plan for the long-awaited redevelopment at a community meeting on Monday.

The planning and construction work on Stages 3 and 4 of the $70.2 million project are expected to start by the end of 2018, taking around 18 months.

Around 40 residents gathered at Club Mudgee on Monday morning for the hour-long question and answer session.

Many of the questions asked were in line with bringing facilities and new services to Mudgee with the redevelopment that once had to be accessed through the Dubbo or Orange facilities.

These included more equipment and facilities for babies as well as children in the planned pediatric areas, questions of the electronic capabilities of the development and the future of the current hospital buildings.

It was outlined that the current building is expected to be demolished and a new health services facility built on the current site. It’s believed the only building to remain will be the residence.

As outlined previously in the Mudgee Guardian, the new facilities are expected to be two-stories to enable a better flow between key health services.

The lead design team is now working on the master plan for the project, which will map the new facility on the existing campus, and the plan is set to be unveiled in October.

The consensus from the health officials was that the project plans would account for much of what residents were requesting and that more meetings would be held in the future for more discussion.

Health officials have assured residents that the clinical services offered in Mudgee will remain operational during the redevelopment of the current site.

Member for Dubbo Troy Grant explained the Mudgee Hospital redevelopment would be similar to the recent Parkes Hospital upgrade.

“If you want to tangibly look at something {online}, it’s the best example at the moment until your own designs are done, that is what you will have here in Mudgee,” he said.

Yearly statistics presented at the meeting outlined the hospital's admission rate at 3,289, 230 births and 13,000 presented at the emergency department.

The ED figure was described as ‘very high for a town the size on Mudgee’ and ‘we know that the emergency department is going to be critical’ in the new development.

Extra health facilities within the community, were discusses, to help stem the flow of patients attending the hospital, if not required.

The ageing population was also a hot topic, and the need for additional beds.