WORK will start this week to fix cracks in load-bearing walls of Roma Hospital, the South West Hospital and Health Service has revealed.

SWHHS Chief Operating Officer Meryl Brumpton said the repairs would ensure the building remained safe in the short term.

"In particular, we will be repairing significant structural cracking to the front wall at the main entrance to the hospital,'' she said.

"This work will ensure Roma Hospital remains in good condition in the short term, while a longer term, multi-million dollar redevelopment program is finalised and carried out over the next few years.

"Planning for the redevelopment is expected to be completed by early next year, at which point we will have a better idea of the overall scope and value of the works to be carried out.

"But in the meantime, the cracking to the front wall and some other walls within the main hospital building poses a structural risk that we need to address now.''

Ms Brumpton said the repairs to the cracked walls would not impact upon any clinical services.

"There are no inpatients in that section of the building, which is mainly administrative but also houses the outpatients' clinic, which will not be affected,'' she said.

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