The trouble-plagued and long-delayed Perth Children's Hospital will be ready for its first patients in May - more than two years later than expected.
The hospital will have a staged opening, with the final move of all patients from Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in June.
The facility was originally scheduled to open in November 2015 but was beset by problems including unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water, asbestos in roof panels and non-compliant fire doors.
Western Australian Health Minister Roger Cook said on Wednesday water testing showed positive trends and replacement of the brass fittings, believed to be the source of the lead contamination, was progressing.
On November 8, water analysis was conducted at 33 locations within the hospital, with 32 passing the test.
The chief health officer will conduct further tests next year.
Work is now being done to replace brass components of thermostatic mixing valve assembly boxes with a custom-made plastic configuration.
Mr Cook conceded the water quality problem had been frustrating, but said it was was a mess the Labor government had inherited.
"The granting of practical completion enabled the government to immediately begin addressing the water quality issues," he said.
"Without granting practical completion, the state would have never been able to identify the main source of the lead problem and the opening of the hospital would have been delayed even further."
Health Department director general David Russell-Weisz said there had been a lot of conjecture about where the lead came from.
"There's been a lot of armchair water experts," he said.
"It is very clear from the science, from the research we've had done, from the chief health officer's report, that it was coming from within the hospital."
Mr Cook said it was costing $6 million a month to run both hospital sites - or a total $180 million by the time the new facility opens - but contractor John Holland would foot the bill.
But the company claims the source of the lead contamination came from outside the hospital, so the delay is the government's responsibility.
John Holland has a $300 million legal claim against the state government over the project.
The opposition remained critical of the Labor government's lack of transparency over the lead issue.
Share
