The first sod of the Melton Hospital was turned this week, with major construction now underway on the long-awaited project.
The new $900 million hospital will have the capacity to treat 130,000 patients a year and help almost 60,000 patients in its 24-hour emergency department supporting Melton, Caroline Springs, Rockbank, Bacchus Marsh, and Gisborne, according to the state government.
Located on a 68,000-square-metre site on Ferris Road, the hospital will have at least 274 beds, an intensive care unit, mental health services, maternity and neonatal services, radiology services, outpatient care, and teaching and training and research spaces.
Works over the next six months will focus on excavation including rock breaking and soil removal, trenching for in-ground services to be installed, piling works and retaining wall construction, pouring of concrete footings and ground slabs, forming the foundations of the hospital, and installation of the first tower crane.
According to the state government, it will be Victoria’s first fully electric hospital – using carbon-neutral power from day one of operations – and it will be an important addition to the hospital network in the west, working with Sunshine Hospital and the new $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital to reduce wait times across the region.
Melton MP Steve McGhie said the beginning of major construction on the site was “a significant step towards transforming Melton into a major hub for health, education, jobs and training.”
Health Infrastructure Minister Melissa Horne said the new hospital would create thousands of local jobs during construction, and once complete, will be a world-class addition to healthcare in Melbourne’s outer west.
Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the new hospital will include important mental health services and make it easier for people who require care to get support.
As reported by Star Weekly, a hands-on design process of the new hospital involved hundreds of Western Health staff, with more than 60 design meetings and workshops, including over 20 immersive sessions at plan visualisation company Big Plans Melbourne.
At Big Plans, frontline healthcare workers walked through full-scale projections of key hospital areas like birthing suites and emergency bays, testing how spaces would work in practice to best meet the needs of Melbourne’s booming outer west.
