ACT Health Minister Katy Gallagher has unveiled measures likely to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with a surge in demand for health care.
The ambitious plan, to prepare the ACT health system for the future, includes a barn theatre, medi-hotel, high-tech brain lab and new community health clinic.
Last year, Ms Gallagher warned the hospital sector was reaching "full capacity" and directed the Health Department to draw up plans so the system could cope with rocketing demand for services.
She has now received the interim report and ruled out a third hospital because "we don't need one". Instead, the Health Department has developed solutions that combine investments in bricks and mortar with cutting-edge technology.
"We need at least a 10-year plan. We know from our work that it's between 2015 and 2020 when the most pressure is going to placed on our health system," she said.
ACT Health chief executive Mark Cormack said Canberra's population was projected to hit 389,000 by 2032 up by 67,000 people.
There would be a "massive surge" in the number of people who were "high-end users" of health services.
Officials expected that one in four people would be older than 65 in 2032, compared with slightly less than 10 per cent in 2002.
The ageing population would lift demand for health care, particularly at Canberra Hospital where more than 35,000 patients would stay overnight in 2021-22, compared with less than 25,000 in 2005-06.
The number of patients admitted overnight to Calvary Hospital would rise from 10,000 to more than 15,000.
As a result, the Government would need to "gradually increase" the number of beds by 60 per cent between now and 2022.
More than 1000 beds would eventually be available across the system.
The hospitals would also look radically different. Most patients would stay in single rooms and the nurse's station would potentially be rendered obsolete by "remote sensing and observation technology".
"The notion of having nurses pacing up and down corridors and physically checking every patient that kind of monitoring will change," Mr Cormack said.
"There'll be a lot more automated monitoring."
The department suggested replacing operating theatres in "little boxes" with a barn theatre an open-plan design where surgeons worked side-by-side in spaces divided by "air curtains" to prevent the spread of infections.
"You can have surgeons assisting on three patients at the same time instead of one or two," he said.
A high-tech brain lab where the operating theatre and MRI machine were in the same room was proposed. The changes would affect the workforce, with new roles for allied health assistants and biomedical technicians and opportunities for nurse practitioners and physiotherapy consultants to take on wider responsibilities.
"We need to, I guess, blur some of the boundaries between nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and so on," he said.
Ms Gallagher said Calvary Hospital's facilities would be "enhanced" whereas Canberra Hospital would need a "major redevelopment" under the plan.
"Effectively, it will be a new hospital," she said.
Mr Cormack said more beds and operating theatres would be opened at Calvary Hospital where the emergency department would also be expanded.
Canberra Hospital's casualty department would be also expanded and located on the "hot floor" along with operating theatres, the intensive care unit and other beds for seriously ill patients.
The hospital would be divided into precincts, including the "hot floor", an integrated cancer centre, women's and children's wing, rehabilitation area, research centre and mental health precinct.
The day surgery unit would be expanded and a one-stop ambulatory care centre would be set up for outpatient clinics and services such as pathology, imaging and dialysis.
In partnership with the private sector, the Government could build a medi-hotel near Canberra Hospital where patients ready to leave hospital could recuperate for a few days before heading home. The medi-hotel could accommodate patients' relatives, tourists and conferences.
The department suggested Gungahlin would need a community health centre and two centres one in the north and one in the south should be redeveloped to offer services such as basic testing, GP care and X-rays.
"It's about providing right care in the right place. You don't want everyone to turn up to Calvary or Canberra Hospital when some services could be offered more locally," he said.
Ms Gallagher expected community feedback on the plan before she took a final proposal to cabinet.