Why do we need a new Footscray hospital?
Melbourne’s west is growing rapidly. To prepare for the future, the Victorian Government has provided up to $1.5 billion to deliver the 504-bed Footscray Hospital on the corner of Geelong and Ballarat Roads in Footscray – the largest ever health capital investment in this state.
The bigger and better new Footscray Hospital will provide an increase in almost 200 beds (compared to the existing Footscray Hospital) to support the increasing demand from Melbourne’s booming western suburbs and ensure families can get the care they need closer to home.
When will construction commence?
Construction of the hospital is expected to commence in late 2020.
When will the new hospital open?
The hospital is scheduled to open in 2025.
Where will the new hospital be built?
The new Footscray Hospital will be built on the corner of Ballarat and Geelong Roads.
Opposite Victoria University’s Footscray Park campus and close to the heart of Footscray, the site is close to public transport and offers the opportunity to develop the area as a leading health, education and business precinct.
Who is building the new hospital?
Shortlisted consortium preparing proposals to design, construct, finance and maintain the new hospital are:
- Advance West comprising: Tetris Capital, John Holland, John Holland Services and ISS.
- Exemplar Health comprising: Capella Capital, Lendlease and Spotless.
- Plenary Health comprising: Plenary Group, Multiplex, Honeywell and Compass.
Shortlisted consortia will prepare comprehensive proposals to deliver the new hospital, which will be assessed by the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority.
The government is on track to appoint the successful consortium in 2020. Construction is scheduled to commence in late 2020, with the new Footscray Hospital to open its doors in 2025.
Will the hospital be a public hospital? Who will operate the new hospital?
The new Footscray Hospital will continue to operate as a public hospital.
The health service providers will continue to be Western Health, complemented by Orygen Youth Health and Mercy Health, who provide mental health services at the current Footscray Hospital.
The site
How was the site selected?
The Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority undertook extensive work to identify and review suitable sites in and around Footscray for a hospital that meets the long-term needs of the community.
Factors in choosing the site included:
- a range of technical criteria to ensure the new Footscray Hospital would be able to deliver on its core purpose
- opportunities to collaborate to increase community, economic and social value by co-locating with other services, including education and research
- community and user priorities established through our engagement activities, including proximity to public transport for patients, families, staff and volunteers
- the ability of the site to accommodate future demand for services as Melbourne’s west continues to grow.
Why can’t it stay on the existing site?
The current Footscray Hospital was built in the 1950s and needs to be rebuilt to ensure we can continue to deliver high-quality health services to this growing community for many years to come.
Building at a new site means there will be far fewer disruptions to the operations of the current hospital while the new facility is being constructed.
The new location also provides an unprecedented opportunity to create a new health, education and research precinct for Melbourne’s west.
What about the carpark currently located on the site? Where will the cars go?
Leading to construction commencement, the carpark will be closed to ensure safety of the community. Unfortunately, this will result in cars no longer being able to park at this location.
Victoria University is working with Maribyrnong City Council to develop alternative carparking solutions from 2020, as well as arrangements for other important services such as childcare.
Building the new Footscray Hospital
What is a PPP?
The new hospital will be delivered as a public private partnership (PPP). The PPP model involves bringing together a private consortium to design, construct, finance and maintain the new facility over a period of 25 years.
This model will deliver the best possible outcome for Footscray, and drives innovation, best practice and value for money that will enable Western Health to focus on delivering the best quality of public care to the people of Melbourne’s west.
We have an excellent history of hospital PPP projects here in Victoria, notably the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Royal Women’s Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, Casey Hospital and, more recently, the New Bendigo Hospital.
Will residents near the new Footscray Hospital be affected during construction and operations?
The Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority will work with the successful consortium and the community to minimise disruptions to neighbouring residents, businesses and Victoria University staff and students.
Further information will be made available prior to commencement of construction in late 2020.
How big will the new hospital be?
The new hospital will provide 504 beds and enable Footscray Hospital to continue to play its role as a large acute and subacute hospital for Melbourne’s west, with significant expansions in mental health, inpatient, palliative care and outpatient services.
Specifically, the new facility will provide:
- at least 504 inpatient beds (including same-day, multi-day, critical care, subacute, drug and alcohol, and mental health services)
- acute facilities (including an emergency department and Crisis Hub)
- specialist facilities (including cardiovascular/angiographic, operating theatres, procedural and endoscopy spaces and associated recovery spaces)
- clinical support spaces (including medical imaging, pharmacy, Central Sterile Services Department, outpatients, mortuary and pathology)
- adequate carparking to cater for patients, visitors, staff and other hospital users
- teaching, training and research spaces
With almost 200 additional beds, the new hospital is expected to cut wait times and allow almost 15,000 additional patients to be treated each year, as well as almost 20,000 additional people to be seen by the emergency department each year.
How many jobs will the project create?
It is estimated that the New Footscray Hospital Project will create in excess of 1,000 construction jobs. Once complete, the new hospital will be an exciting hub, with up to 1,000 additional jobs in health and education anticipated to be created.
The existing Footscray Hospital
What will happen to the existing hospital site?
Following relocation to the new site (corner of Ballarat and Geelong Roads), the current Footscray Hospital on Gordon Street will be decommissioned. The future use of the Gordon Street site is unknown at this time.
The new Footscray Hospital will take approximately five years to deliver, which provides time to bring the community, government and local organisations together to determine the best outcome for Footscray.
What are you doing about the state of the existing hospital while we wait for the new facility?
The government provided funding for works at the existing hospital in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 State Budgets to ensure it can continue to provide safe and high-quality care to patients while we deliver the new hospital.
These works include upgrades of fire, mechanical and ICT services, maintenance and repairs to the façade of the south and north blocks, renovations of ward bathrooms and replacement of the backup power generators.
Traffic and carparking
What will you do about traffic congestion?
Traffic and areas of congestion is a key element considered in the planning of a new hospital.
We are working closely with the Department of Transport and Maribyrnong City Council to ensure safe and efficient access to the hospital for patients and visitors and with the least disruption to the local community.
Will the new hospital have enough carparking?
Sufficient on-site carparking for parents, staff and other users of the hospital will be provided.
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