More investment in a bigger, better Ballarat Base Hospital
Ballarat Health Services has received a boost in investment for the redevelopment of Ballarat Base Hospital, ensuring the region’s families and dedicated hospital staff get the world-class facilities they deserve and need to treat thousands more patients a year.
As part of the Guaranteeing Energy Supply initiative, Ballarat Base Hospital will receive $80 million to build a new central energy plant which will be integrated with the redevelopment - bringing the Government’s total investment to $541.6 million. Construction will begin next year, creating more than 1,400 construction jobs.
The Victorian Budget 2020/21 includes a total of $178.2 million for the Guaranteeing Energy Supply initiative, that ensures hospitals have capacity and reliable backup energy supply if there was a power failure in the electricity grid.
In addition to the central energy plant, the upgraded hospital includes a multi-level tower with a new emergency department, a women and children’s hub, state-of-the-art theatre suite and an extra 100 inpatient and short-stay beds.
There will also be a new and expanded critical care floor with an intensive care unit, operating theatres, procedure rooms, endoscopy suites and consulting rooms – delivering capacity for an additional 4,000 surgeries every year.
Once complete, the hospital will have capacity to treat at least 18,000 more emergency patients and an extra 14,500 inpatients each year.
Ballarat Health Services is one of the region’s largest employers and this redevelopment is expected to create up to 1,000 extra positions once fully operational. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
Former Premier and Ballarat local Steve Bracks will Chair a Community Consultative Committee, alongside Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison and Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle.
The broader Ballarat community is invited to help shape the redevelopment by joining the Community Consultative Committee or completing an online community survey on Engage Victoria. Committee members will be appointed through an open Expression of Interest which can be found on the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority website: vhhsba.vic.gov.au/ballarat-base-hospital
Tenders are currently being invited from local contractors to join the project for Architectural Engineering and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering. An online briefing session will be held on 8 December 2020 02:30 PM. For invitation details please email lyndal.rofe@dhhs.vic.gov.au. Registration closes on 7 December 2020 05:00 PM.
