ACT government to give an extra $100 million to COVID-19 health response

The territory government will also allocate an extra $18.2 million to the Canberra hospital expansion, which will go towards the operational commissioning of the new critical services building.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr will announce the funding as part of the territory government's mid-year budget review to be handed down on Thursday.

"The pandemic is not over, and it's important for government's at all levels to do what we can to prepare our healthcare system for winter, where we expect to see a flu season for the first time in two years and a potential surge in COVID-19 cases," Mr Barr said.

A total of $105.3 million will be given to the pandemic response. It will go towards elements of the response including bolstering testing sites and vaccination clinics.

The $18.2 million funding will be used for workforce planning and recruitment, procurement of equipment, testing equipment and training staff.

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The critical services building is expected to be opened in 2024. Labor had originally committed to finishing the building by 2022 but it was plagued by delays.

Canberra Health Services will be running an international recruitment drive in order to find specialists to staff the new building.

"On the workforce front the preparations start now, including the development of workforce plans, job specifications, recruitment strategies and bringing new clinical and support staff on board," Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.

"As with any hospital there is plenty of behind-the-scenes work that goes on - things like facility maintenance specifications, software and hardware mapping for all departments and risk management planning."

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