Australia picks up tab on Nauru hospital

Brisbane and Perth companies will undertake a $12 million Australian aid-funded upgrade of Nauru's hospital.

Part of the hospital burnt down in 2013.

Queensland firm Canstruct and West Australian-based Ocean to Outback Contracting will undertake the work.

About 15-20 Nauruans will be employed on the construction site.

The first phase will be a pharmacy and medical records wing due to be completed by year's end.

The next two phases - including an emergency department and operating theatre - will be finished by the end of 2016.

Nauru's Health Minister Valdon Dowiygo says patients will no longer have to travel to Fiji for potentially life-saving diagnostic imaging because the hospital is getting a CAT scan machine.