Brimbank’s baby boom will no longer bust the bed quota after the state government’s decision to invest $200 million into the much-anticipated Western Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
The 2015-16 state budget includes funding to build a new hospital for women and children on the Sunshine Hospital site, with preliminary work to start in the next 12 months.
The new hospital will provide 237 beds, 39 special-care nursery cots, four theatres and additional clinics, and a children’s hospital modelled on the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The wards would all come under one roof in a five-storey centre that would link up with the existing hospital.
Sunshine Hospital has the third-highest number of births of any Victorian hospital, after the two dedicated women’s hospitals.
Western Health chief executive Alex Cockram said the funding was a “great breakthrough” for families in the west.
“I’m sure that the women and their families will be so relieved to hear this,” Professor Cockram said.
“The number of births at Sunshine Hospital has reached more than 5000, and 7200 births are expected in 2026 … we simply could not meet that demand without this new hospital.”
Main construction will take place in the next two years, with the new centre slated to open by the end of 2018.
Before last year’s state election, now-Premier Daniel Andrews said a special-care nursery would include a neonatal intensive care unit in the future, while the new hospital would cater for an extra 2000 births a year. It will also free up theatre space and beds at Sunshine Hospital.
St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman said the new hospital would create jobs, boost the local economy and enable up to 7000 more operations a year at Sunshine Hospital.
Associate Professor Cockram also welcomed funding for an extra four critical care beds across Western Health.
“We are pleased to be able to expand our service in response to the extreme community need … and to provide them in a hospital which is much closer to our patients’ homes.”
The state government has also put aside
$85 million for redevelopment and expansion of Werribee Mercy Hospital, building six extra operating theatres and 64 new in-patient beds.
