Leader appointed to oversee RPA's $750m redevelopment

November 2020

Kristina Zarkos to coordinate transformation of premier tertiary hospital

Kristina Zarkos’ job is to plan for the future.

She has been appointed as RPA’s Redevelopment Manager and will oversee the $750 million project to transform the hospital.
”It’s vital to take RPA into the future.

“Our doctors, nurses, allied health teams and support staff provide outstanding care for our patients and their families. And a purpose-designed campus will better meet the health care needs of the growing community we serve,” Ms Zarkos said.

The New South Wales Government has fast-tracked the redevelopment, which will now be delivered a year earlier than planned.

In her pivotal new role, Ms Zarkos will lead a team responsible for coordinating the redevelopment and will work closely with Sydney Local Health District Executive, NSW Health Infrastructure plus hospital and community stakeholders.

Communication will be key.

“My job will be to work collaboratively with our staff, patients, families, our health care partners and stakeholders to ensure they’re engaged, consulted and informed as we move through the different phases of the redevelopment over the next few years,” Ms Zarkos said.

About 6000 staff work at RPA and the population in the area surrounding the Camperdown campus is expected to grow by 40 per cent between 2016 and 2036.

With the project now being accelerated, $16.3 million in funding has been allocated this financial year and a further $52 million next financial year, determining the next planning priorities is at the top of Ms Zarkos’ to-do list.

“We’d already established a Working Party and, in consultation with our clinicians, we’ve developed a Clinical Services Plan.

“It sets out how best to deliver expanded, enhanced and integrated services, and contemporary, multidisciplinary models of care, in the decades ahead. Now we’re evaluating the next steps,” Ms Zarkos said.

And, as the project progresses, staff, patients, families, and stakeholders will have the opportunity to participate in the design process to ensure a focus on timely, high quality and accessible patient and family centred care is at the core of the redevelopment.

“We want to ensure every RPA patient’s experience is the best experience,” she said.

Ms Zarkos joined the hospital as a graduate nurse in 1997. Over the next 24 years, her career flourished and she rose to become RPA’s Director of Nursing and Midwifery.

During that time, she’s witnessed big advances in treatments, technology and patient care.

“There’s been a huge move in technology. I remember using a pen and paper to record notes on patient care charts in our wards.

“Now, it’s documented in a patient’s electronic medical record. It gives doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals secure access to the same real-time information,” she said.

There’s also been building and services upgrades including the Professor Marie Bashir Centre, which opened in 2014, a staff car park, which opened in 2018 and the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, a comprehensive cancer treatment centre, which opened in 2013.

“I am proud to work here. I love what I do. I’ve been fortunate to have been offered many career opportunities at RPA. This is my next challenge – to help plan the future of health care at RPA,” she said.