With a cheer and a selfie new RAH opens

A spike in emergency walk-ins hasn't unsettled the move of more than 300 patients to the new $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Royal Adelaide Hospital

The emergency department at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital has opened. (AAP)

The emergency department at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital has treated its first patients at the new $2.4 billion state-of-the-art health facility.

Wrapping on the department's big red sign was removed just before 7am on Tuesday to cheers and a few selfies, with the emergency department closing at the old RAH site at the same time.

More than 300 patients are being transferred from the old to the new hospital with the shift starting on Monday and expected to be completed by Wednesday afternoon.

Ambulances transferred 130 people on Monday with a similar number expected to head over on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I'm certainly very, very happy with where we're at and cautiously optimistic - we expect to have all of our patients moved by the end of tomorrow and so far everything's gone well," Health Minister Jack Snelling said.

Despite the excitement at the new facility, staff still felt a tinge of sadness when the doors at the old Royal Adelaide closed for the last time, emergency medical director Tom Soulsby says.

"It's been a very emotional couple of days," he told reporters.

"A lot of us have spent a lot of our lives working in that department and that hospital and it's meant a lot to us."

About 30 emergency patients, who were admitted before Tuesday's changeover, were still being cared for at the old hospital but were expected to be discharged or transferred by the end of the day.

From Wednesday, all emergency admissions will go to the new destination.

But health authorities have asked people not to seek emergency treatment at the new hospital unless experiencing a genuine emergency.


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Source: AAP


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