Work has begun as part of an almost $7 million expansion to Calvary Hospital's emergency department.
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The expanded emergency rooms will see 22 new treatment spaces added to the hospital, along with an extra 40 medical staff.
Construction on the $6.7 million project is set to finish in mid-2020.
The expansion comes after a horror few months for Canberra hospitals, with fewer patients receiving timely treatment in emergency wards.
The latest quarterly report for ACT hospital performance showed only 28 per cent of urgent emergency patients were seen on time, well below the target of 70 per cent.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the expansion was expected to meet a population surge in coming years.
"The expansion will provide a 50 per cent increase in Calvary's emergency department treatment spaces prior to next year's Canberra winter, a period of peak demand for our frontline hospital services," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"This is an incredibly important project for hospital services on the northside of Canberra, the fastest growing area of our city."
The last financial year saw 149,000 emergency presentations to emergency rooms across the ACT, 60,000 of those at Calvary.
The expansion will also see a 20 per cent increase in treatment spaces and a larger short-stay unit.
Services already carried out at the hospital are not expected to be impacted as a result of the construction.
Calvary Hospital general manager Mark Dykgraaf said patients would be able to be seen faster.
"We also anticipate that people seeking our services will appreciate the streaming of patients based on the assessment of whether they are likely to become admitted patients, or if they are expected to be discharged home after their treatment," Mr Dykgraaf said.
"This early assessment is very informative for patients and their families or support people."
The emergency department expansion will be carried out ahead a $40 million funding boost for the Bruce hospital over the next four years.
It's expected that additional funding will focus on increased emergency services and elective surgery.
Canberra Liberals health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne welcomed the news of the expanded emergency department.
However, she said more staff was needed at Calvary in order to meet growing patient numbers.
"This is very much overdue and there big waiting times and big problems with long waiting times in the emergency departments," Mrs Dunne said.
"[The ACT] is substantially underperforming in timeliness in the ED and this expansion will go some of the way to relieve the pressure."
Mrs Dunne said more beds were needed in hospital wards to cope with the increased number of patients that would be seen in the expanded emergency department.
A $500 million expansion plan is also under way at Canberra Hospital, with the new building set to be completed by 2024.