$473 million for the development of the new Bendigo Hospital

17 May 2010

The Victorian Government has committed $473 million for the development of the new Bendigo Hospital on the historic Anne Caudle site. This investment builds on the $55 million that was allocated in the 2009-10 budget for enabling works and planning to provide a total investment of $528 million.

The new Bendigo Hospital project will be the largest regional hospital project in Victoria’s history, and one of the largest hospital projects across Australia.

The new hospital will have the capacity to meet current and future demand for health services in Bendigo and the greater Loddon-Mallee region.

The new Bendigo Hospital project will include the building of the new acute hospital, a new mental health facility with additional inpatient beds and a refurbished ambulatory care centre. Features of the new hospital will include:

• 308 new acute inpatient beds, an increase of 105 over the current 203 beds. This includes a new integrated women’s and children’s facility with six delivery suites, 25 maternity beds, 15 special care nursery cots and six consulting rooms;
• 68 acute same-day beds, an increase of 30 over the current 38 beds;
• An additional radiotherapy bunker fitted out with a linear accelerator, providing a total of 3 linacc's;
• 18 additional day oncology chairs for chemotherapy patients;
• Additional Emergency Department capacity with 34 cubicles;
• Eight operating theatres;
• A new helipad to provide faster transports for critically ill patients to and from the hospital;
• A purpose built 75-bed mental health facility, which brings together under one roof existing mental health services at three sites, providing an additional 33 beds.

The new facility expands Bendigo Health’s role in providing health care services and means that people living in country Victoria will have access to hospital and health facilities closer to where they live.

Site works have already begun and major construction will commence by the end of 2012. The new hospital is expected to be commissioned in 2016.