The new St Vincent’s Private Hospital Toowoomba Clive Berghofer Operating Theatre Suite was officially blessed and opened on Thursday 22 February at a VIP studded event held in a marquee at the front of the hospital’s main entrance.

Officiating were the heads of St Vincent’s Health Australia and the organisation’s governing body, The Trustees of Mary Aikenhead Ministries, as well as local businessman and philanthropist Clive Berghofer.

The $30 million theatre suite added six new operating theatres, a new kitchen and main reception area for the hospital.

St Vincent’s Hospital CEO Kathryn McKeefry said the new facilities have enabled the hospital to introduce exciting new clinical services.

The new Hybrid Theatre is the first Philips installation of its kind in Australia and New Zealand, with the space currently being used to perform delicate procedures to diagnose heart conditions. This use will develop into full interventional cardiology services later in the year.

The expansion also includes bright recovery areas, where patients wake to natural light and sky views after their operations. Ms McKeefry said the completion of the Clive Berghofer Operating Theatre Suite was the beginning of a new era of operations for St Vincent’s Private Hospital Toowoomba.

“We are grateful to The Trustees of Mary Aikenhead Ministries and St Vincent’s Health Australia for their $25 million investment in the hospital’s future,” she said.

“We are proud the new theatre suite is named the Clive Berghofer Operating Theatre Suite in honour of local business man and philanthropist Clive Berghofer AM, who donated $5 million towards the project.

“We are currently creating a 22-bed post-operative rehabilitation ward and following that, work will begin on a new 16 cardiac medical ward to support our new interventional cardiology service.”

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