World-class hospitals for regional Victoria

The health of families in regional Victoria will benefit from one of the biggest regional hospital rebuilding commitments in the state’s history, the Minister for Health, Daniel Andrews said today.

Mr Andrews said the 2009 State Budget outlined a $150.2 million regional hospital building program to deliver world-class hospitals for regional Victoria communities.

“The Brumby Labor Government is taking action on health to support families in regional Victoria in tough global times and for the future,” Mr Andrews said.

“Our Government is providing a social safety net for regional Victorian families through the Global Financial Crisis, to ensure they can access world-class public health care.

“As well as delivering funding for world-class hospitals, the 2009 State Budget will also provide a boost to regional economies and jobs through construction, with this budget alone securing up to 35,000 Victorian jobs.”

Mr Andrews said key regional Victoria hospital building projects were:

• Bendigo Hospital: $55 million for the first stage of redevelopment – relocating the ambulance station and the demolition of existing buildings. Other infrastructure works will include upgrades of mechanical, electrical and fire safety services, an expansion of the ambulance bay and resuscitation bay, emergency department x-ray equipment, a new eight bed ward and support for detailed planning of the major redevelopment. The proposed primary health centre will be expanded;
• Ballarat Hospital: $20 million has been provided to redevelop facilities to implement a Coronary Catheterisation Laboratory and six day beds. The work will also provide an appropriate women’s health and children’s unit to meet increasing demand in the region; and refurbish a historic building to centralise administration and offices;
• Geelong Hospital: $30 million for an extra 24 bed surgical ward, as well as eight extra mental health beds in the Swanston Centre. It will allow fit-out of the second new theatre and associated upgrades and reconfigure clinical service areas. These works will support Barwon Health to meet its strategic role in the provision of health services and undertake the next stage of planning for the redevelopment of the Geelong Hospital site;
• Alexandra Hospital and ambulance station redevelopment: $19 million to redevelop the Alexandra District Hospital, providing a new integrated hospital and community health service. The redevelopment will include new acute beds, emergency stabilisation, operating suite, day stay facilities, community health and administration/support facilities. A new Alexandra Ambulance Station will be built and co-located on the site;
• Warrnambool Hospital redevelopment Stage 1c: $26.2 million will deliver the final stage of the project, comprising the redevelopment of the allied health, rehabilitation, and mental health services with new community health facilities to form a single Integrated Care Centre;

“The Brumby Labor Government is committed to delivering families in regional Victoria the world-class hospital services they need,” Mr Andrews said.

“Our massive regional Victoria hospital building program will mean that more families in regional Victoria can access the healthcare they need closer to home.”

Mr Andrews said the 2009 State Budget also delivered funding to help Victoria maintain its leadership role in disease prevention and build on significant developments in tackling communicable disease, with $7.8 million over four years for the Victorian Immunisation Strategy, targeting new strains of tuberculosis.

“The Brumby Labor Government is also taking action on public dental waiting lists, with $21.1 million to increase the number of patients seen,” Mr Andrews said.

“Our $21.1 million boost to dental services builds on funding in previous budgets to invest in more dental services.

“Our new funding will provide extra dental treatments for pensioners at Ballarat, Moe, Sale and Geelong, as well some locations in metropolitan Melbourne. As part of a blitz on the areas of the state with the longest waiting times, there will be an additional 6000 treatments for people in regional Victoria."

“More than 20,000 patients will be treated across the state over the next two years, and the Brumby Labor Government’s expansion of the public dental system will see waiting times slashed. People needing urgent dental care will continue to be assessed within 24 hours.”

Mr Andrews said regional Victorians stood to benefit from a $45 million blitz on elective surgery, which would be rolled out later in the year with the target of delivering 9000 additional elective surgeries in 2009-10.

“Women in regional Victoria also will benefit from a $10 million program to expand digital mammography to BreastScreen Victoria services, upgrading old analogue equipment,” Mr Andrews said.

“Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Victoria and the third most common new cancer, with 3057 new cases and 707 deaths annually.

“The Brumby Labor Government is supporting families by ensuring Victorian women have access to the latest breast cancer screening technology, to detect breast cancer earlier and increase the chances of fighting it.”

Families in regional Victoria also will benefit from state-wide health initiatives, including:

• $1.2 billion to ensure Victoria’s doctors, nurses and medical scientists continued to enjoy pay and conditions that helped keep Victoria’s health system the best in Australia;
• $72.2 million is being provided to ensure clinical placements for more than 4500 medical students, more than 12,000 nursing students, 600 dental students and almost 6500 allied health students;
• $780.9 million over five years to significantly boost the capacity for hospitals to provide treatment in key areas of cancer treatment, acute care and sub-acute services;
• $60.6 million in aged care initiatives, including the expansion of the Personal Alert Victoria program to provide more personal alert units to an additional 4000 senior Victorians;
• $84.1 million for mental health reform and to boost mental health services; and
• $86.9 million boost to disability services and $8.3 million to support Victorians with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.