A major new health and education hub is on the way for Adelaide’s southern suburbs. Flinders University will build a $300 million, 10-storey Flinders HealthCARE Centre at Bedford Park, supported by a $150 million federal contribution. The project promises to deliver 10,000 new health appointments each year, while training 1,300 additional health professionals annually to tackle critical workforce shortages.

Both Labor and the Coalition have pledged support, ensuring bipartisan backing for what’s being hailed as a game-changer in healthcare delivery and training.

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Key Points

• $300 million project: $150m from federal government, $150m from Flinders University
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• 10-storey facility in the Flinders Health Precinct, Bedford Park
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• Three floors of clinical space, able to treat 100 patients at once
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• 10,000 health appointments annually for the local community
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• Training capacity for 1,300 graduates each year, including:
  
  • 490+ nurses
  • 250 social workers
  • 128 occupational therapists and speech pathologists
  • 101 paramedics
  • 60 physiotherapists
  • 50+ midwives
  • 24 clinical psychologists
  • 180 other allied health professionals
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• Design and development to begin in 2025, construction targeted for 2027

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Project Significance

The HealthCARE Centre is pitched as both a health service and a workforce pipeline. With Adelaide’s southern suburbs facing growing demand from an ageing population, the facility will cut outpatient waiting lists by up to a third while producing the doctors, nurses, and allied health staff needed to staff hospitals across the region.

For Flinders University, it cements a legacy: more than 50 years after becoming Australia’s first university embedded in a public hospital, it is doubling down on integrated healthcare and training.

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Further Details: Bipartisan Backing and Local Impact

The project has already secured bipartisan support. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed it as part of Labor’s plan to strengthen Medicare and reduce waiting times, while Coalition health spokesperson Anne Ruston labelled it a “great project” that squarely addresses workforce shortages.

Beyond healthcare, the project feeds into Flinders University’s broader precinct vision, which includes more than 1,000 new homes and 2,500 student accommodation beds. Together, the initiatives position Bedford Park as a long-term anchor of education, health, and urban growth in South Australia.

While construction won’t begin until 2027, the HealthCARE Centre already looms as one of Adelaide’s most significant health investments in decades – a project with the potential to reshape both care delivery and medical training for generations.