City of Melton is calling for a 24-hour public hospital commitment from major political parties ahead of the November state election. The bid includes services such as an emergency department, cardiac and intensive care, acute surgical facilities and diagnostic services for the booming region taking in Ballan and Bacchus Marsh.

Ballarat Health Services chief executive officer Dale Fraser told The Courier in June that one in three daily visits to BHS Base Hospital was a patient from the western suburbs. BHS chose not to comment on the Melton proposal this week.

City of Melton mayor Bob Turner has experienced firsthand the need to see a specialist in Ballarat to avoid significantly longer waits in the west, in hospitals like Sunshine. And he said that was with doctor help to make it happen.

Melton’s population is predicted to soar to 400,000 – as big as Canberra – in the next 30 years.

Cr Turner said a new Melton baby was born every four hours.

The nearest major hospitals are the Western Hospital in Footscray and Sunshine. Nearby Bacchus Marsh hospital was deemed an unsuitable alternative due to its small size and quality issues, according to an independent report commissioned by the council.

Plans are for the Melton hospital to be in the suburb Cobblebank, south of the Western Freeway and close to the Toolern train station, which under construction on the Ballarat line to Melbourne.

This comes as Ballarat Health Services works on its building and infrastructure plan for the next 30 years.

BHS received a $461 million jump start for redevelopment works from the state government earlier this year. The draft master plan, released in June, factors in catering to healthcare increasing from beyond Ballarat in both regional western Victoria and the western suburbs.

Cr Taylor said Melton’s growth was a good problem to have, only it was vital to have the infrastructure to keep up. And hospital access is a constant pain for people in his boundaries and the broader outer west, from Werribee to Wood End and Ballan to Deer Park.

About 90 per cent of Melton residents who work, travel  to their jobs. Cr Taylor said the Build Melton Hospital project had the potential to create jobs closer to home.

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