GET TO KNOW Kiel Harvey

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Kiel Harvey works for the Sydney Local Health district as the General Manager of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

What makes this project special?
The simplest answer is that it’s Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital, which is such an iconic institution, so a project of this scale is naturally going to be special. It’s the most significant redevelopment for the hospital in its 140 years and will hopefully make a real difference to our ability to continue to provide a high standard of patient care which is integrated with clinical research and teaching.

What is challenging about this project?
Well, it’s a brown-field site with an incredibly busy hospital operating on it. The project needs to be completed while the hospital continues to deliver its core functions. There will be disruptions, but it’s our job to mitigate them. We’re on a pretty condensed site and achieving everything we need to will be a challenge.

How has the team worked together to meet those challenges?
The strength of RPA has always been the involvement of its senior clinicians. They have always been very supportive of the hospital’s executive team working closely together. It’s no different with this project. I personally feel really appreciative of their advice and their time engaging in the project’s governance arrangements. The HI team, the redevelopment team and our clinicians have all come together and the collaboration has been fantastic.

What are you most proud of so far on this project?
We recognise that this redevelopment will make significant changes to the hospital. We are constantly focused on how we make sure that we maximise what we achieve within the project scope.

How do we ensure the money being spent provides the best possible outcomes for our patients and their families?
I think that body of work is exceptionally important, because at the end of the day this project is about providing the best outcome for the people of NSW. So, if we can make smart decisions about certain areas that we can repurpose, that means more resources are focused on generating more scope for the project. It really underpins our focus as a District on sustainability – repurposing and refurbishing so that we aren’t wasting resources.

Is there anything in particular about the project that you would like to share?
The Arts Curatorium is a positive and exciting part of the project. The Curatorium, led by Michael Lynch, drew on representatives from across the hospital and community to develop the Arts and Culture Strategy for the redevelopment. It will make use of partnerships between health services, arts organisations and individual artists to develop arts programs and strategies that will complement the resulting build and hopefully create beautiful environments for our staff and patients. I’m looking forward to seeing how this collaborative effort will create therapeutic spaces and inform the look and feel of the finished buildings.

What does your perfect weekend look like?
Well, I have three young girls, and the youngest is only two years old so some sort of sleep-in would be lovely. At weekends we usually go to swimming lessons at the local pool on Saturday and then Nippers at the beach on Sunday. So, a perfect weekend would include nice weather for those activities with the kids, maybe the Cronulla Sharks winning a game, and hopefully some quiet time with family and friends. A nice barbecue with a side of my Mum’s potato bake and a good chili sauce would round the weekend out nicely.