New St John O’Connor centre opens

Work has been completed on the new St John WA ambulance depot and Event Health Services facility in O’Connor and it is now in operation.

St John Ambulance Operations Director Deon Brink said the ambulance service had leased premises on Parry Street, Fremantle since 1936 and the cessation of that lease had created an opportunity to build a new premises on land owned by St John.

“This move means we can grow the capacity of the service and will be a real asset to Fremantle and the surrounding community,” he said.

The new centre has a large ten bay garage, improved amenities for staff and also a dedicated training facility.

“Having a larger working space will also mean we can recruit more Event Health Service volunteers,” Mr Brink said.

“St John WA invested $6 million in this project to ensure the community had 24 hour a day access to high quality emergency medical care.”

Mr Brink said St John continued to make significant capital investments to deliver a world class ambulance service.

St John performed more than 260,000 ambulance cases in the Perth metro area in 2018/19, an increase of more than 5 per cent on the previous year.

Among those who attended the opening on Friday 11 October were St John Chairman Shayne Leslie, CEO Michelle Fyfe, City of Fremantle’s Director of Strategic planning and projects Paul Garbett and City of Fremantle Cr Hanna Fitzhardinge.