The new Banksia Mental Health Unit will be "future proofed" and could be expanded in future, if demand exceeds its planned 33-bed capacity.
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And Hunter New England Health (HNEH) CEO Michael DiRienzo said he believes the old Banksia building should be used to accommodate new health services, rather than being demolished.
Mr DiRienzo announced on Friday that the new Banksia will be built on a site immediately adjacent and physically connected to Tamworth hospital's emergency room.
Tamworth Mental Health Carers' Support Group, which has been lobbying for a new facility since 2018, had asked for as many as 50 beds at the new unit. The existing institution has 25 beds.
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The HNEH CEO said 33 beds would be "the appropriate number" for the new Banksia - but flagged there is room for growth if they got more use than anticipated.
"That's why we've chosen this location," he said.
"I wouldn't say [the new site is] completely future-proof, but all of our new facilities now have the capability of expansion when the activity demands that we do more in that particular space."
The 33-bed figure was developed after a lengthy and comprehensive consultation process, which led to the unit's Clinical Services Plan.
The upgrade will also leave the existing building - which was built in the 1990s - vacant, leaving open the question of what to use it for once it's empty.
Mr DiRienzo said the building has "pretty good bones" and should continue to get clinical use after the existing mental health unit migrates to a new building.
"We can do something with this building. It's a large enough building, I think, to accommodate probably a number of services that I think should be on this campus," he said.
He said planners of the new Banksia should consider what services should Tamworth hospital have. That process should happen alongside the co-design of the new institution, he said.
Local medical service providers, among other community groups including elements of the criminal justice system, have long advocated for additional drug and alcohol rehabilitation options in the region.
Asked if it was his view that Tamworth should have a rehabilitation facility on the site Mr DiRienzo said "I think we should look at all options".
On Friday Mr DiRienzo gave the clearest indication yet of a timeline for construction of the new institution.
Co-designing the new unit could take as little as six months, with construction to start a year after that and take about 18 months. That timeline would have the unit opening in about December 2023.
In 2018 the Tamworth Mental Health Carers' Support Group collected 12,000 signatures demanding a new Banksia Mental Health Unit. Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson promised the upgrade before the 2019 election.
The community group wants the new medical institution to be a kinder, gentler place for people to get mental health treatment.
Construction of the facility does not yet have a budget.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
