Western Victorian MP Josh Morris last week called for the government to fund additional operating theatres at the Ballarat Base Hospital in the May budget.

Mr Morris said fitting out the shell in the hospital’s new Drummond Street building was “crucial” to Western Victorians’ health. 

However BHS Resource and Planning executive director Rod Hansen said the government had already earmarked funding for the fit-out. 

Mr Hansen also said the dormant wing had no effect on elective surgery wait lists.  

“It’s not harming elective surgery waiting times. They’ve (the government) provided the starting point for the planning and that includes fitting out the shell and we’re working through them with the timing of that,” he said.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy announced $1 million in “future planning” for Ballarat Base Hospital on February 20 this year, including additional theatres and support space in the new Gardiner-Pittard building.

Mr Hansen said measures to reduce the hospitals’s elective surgery waiting list – which jumped 53 per cent between 2014 and 2016 – were “in the works”.

The elective surgery waiting list increased from 506 in December 2014, to 1,463 in December 2016.

“We always want to see less people waiting on our waiting lists and that’s our intention to do so.

“We are currently reviewing to improve our outpatient services at the moment and then in line with that we’re reviewing our theatre utilisation capacity.

“We’re working through to be as efficient as possible with what we have today and also that we develop our infrastructure in the right way to meet our services.”

Mr Morris Friday on said Premier Daniel Andrews needed to “put his money where his mouth is”.

“Daniel Andrews really needs to make sure the people of Ballarat are getting their medical needs met and the way to do that is by funding the additional operating theatres. Daniel Andrews has just been ignoring the needs of Ballarat patients in not funding these operating theatres.”

The Gardiner-Pittard building opened to the public in February of this year, followed by the 32-bed Gardiner-Pittard ward in the same month.