Aerial view of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital still under construction.
Source: Supplied
THE man hired to oversee the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s move to its new site has quit abruptly just eight months after he was appointed, for “personal reasons”.
Andrew Nielsen was hired in July last year to oversee the move from the current hospital to the new hospital site.
No public announcement was made about his departure, but when SA Health was contacted by The Advertiser yesterday, it admitted he had quit.
An SA Health memo — sent to all staff last month by department chief executive David Swan and obtained by The Advertiser — confirmed the resignation.
The latest departure comes as the new RAH’s completion date remains months behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
While the State Government remains optimistic the hospital will be finished by its scheduled completion date of April 2016, late last year its master workers program indicated the handover could be as late as August 2016.
“Andrew Nielsen, Program Director for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, has informed me of his decision to resign from the role for personal reasons,” the memo read.
“I would like to acknowledge Andrew’s work in leading the new RAH program team.
“He has made a significant contribution to the planning for the transition to the new hospital, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
In December, Mr Nielsen, who previously worked on program delivery of the London Olympic Games, said the hospital move would be planned down to the minute.
He hosed down the Government’s announcement that an extra $176.6 million was needed to move patients and equipment from the old hospital, stating it was “contingency” money to account for unexpected problems.
In the memo, Mr Swan announced Mike Allsopp, a former executive project director for the Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland, had agreed to take up the role on a “temporary basis while recruitment for a permanent replacement occurs”.
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said the latest resignation was the second senior leader to leave the project in recent weeks following the departure of Dr David Panter, formally the chief executive of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, which covers the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Previously, Dr Panter also held the position of RAH project director.
“There is now a growing sense of chaos … in the project,” Mr Wade said. “The new Royal Adelaide Hospital is running over time and over budget.
Just three months after the Government’s $176.6 million bailout, the man appointed to salvage the project has abruptly moved on.”
RAH program director Andrew Nielsen resigns due to “personal reasons”
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