A massive health logistics effort has seen the doors open and patients move in to Perth’s big new hospital.

Nearly six months and millions of dollars over budget, the Fiona Stanley Hospital has become WA’s first new tertiary public hospital in more than 50 years.

More than 80 patients from Royal Perth Hospital's Shenton Park campus were moved in a stream of ambulances over the weekend, transported to the new facilities.

Patient transfer vehicles left every few minutes start the phased opening of the new hospital, with the emergency department scheduled to open in February next year.

Health Minister Kim Hames said it was the biggest single move of patients ever undertaken in WA.

“Around 23 vehicles [were] used, including ambulances, wheelchair-accessible vehicles and a special bus which can transport six wheelchair patients at a time,” he said.

“The move [was] scheduled for a Saturday to have the least impact on the clinical care of the patients and to minimise disruption to traffic and the general public.

“As always, patient care is a top priority and the safety and care of patients during this transition has been at the forefront of the planning process since the beginning.”

Fiona Stanley Hospital will be notable for its largely paper-free environment, using tablet PCs and cloud-based software to save time and money on supplies.

Insiders say that commissioning and implementing the cutting-edge IT was one of the elements behind the delayed opening.

The hospital is named after Professor Fiona Stanley from the University of Western Australia's school of paediatrics and child health.

Prof Stanley’s father first moved to WA to set up health facilities in the middle of the polio epidemic. She later trained in medicine at UWA and has spent a lifetime improving the state’s health and medical care, public health, vaccination, trauma management, infection control and other parts of the health system.