UPGRADES and additions to ground level facilities will form the first stage of Ballarat Health Services' Base Hospital's major overhaul.
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The state government announced less than a fortnight ago Ballarat-based national construction company H Troon would take on the first stages in the hospital's $541.6 million expansion.
BHS has confirmed early works will include new pods in the ground level of the Gardner Pittard Building, which houses the hospital's main entrance off Drummond Street, to support reception, support services, the mail room and prayer room.
The hospital's north end of the cafeteria building will be refreshed for the relocation of the spiritual centre while improvements will be made to level one in the cafeteria building to better support dietetics and clinical administration.
Stage one will also feature alterations in the Base Hospital building that houses Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre, off Sturt Street. These works will be made for consulting rooms on level three.
This master plan aims to deliver to the region's future health needs with finals stages expected to be complete in 2027.
The redevelopment, funded by the Victorian government, will be constructed in multiple stages.
While Troon will undertake stage one construction, the company's work can already be found in the hospital's helipad, multi-storey car park and the Gardner Pittard wing off Drummond Street.
A new emergency department, state-of-the-art theatre suite and an extra 100 additional inpatient and short stay beds will feature in coming stages.
The new-look hospital will also include a new, expanded critical care floor to bring together operating theatres, procedure rooms and endoscopy suites. Such a facilities will offer the capacity for an extra 4000 surgeries each year.
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BHS' initial draft master plan for the next 30 years was unveiled in mid-2018 in a bid to allow for the city's growth and development and to improve staff workflow and care.
At the time, BHS chief Dale Fraser told The Courier a lot of buildings that were part of the hospital, built 20 to 30 years ago, were no longer fit for purpose and this created limitations on staff and patient care.
This follows earlier redevelopment works at the Base Hospital for the new Gardner Pittard wing opening in February 2017. Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre was opened in July 2013.
The upgraded hospital will have the capacity to treat at least 18,000 more emergency patients and an extra 14,500 inpatients per year.
Wendouree MP Juliana Addison last month said the project would create 1400 jobs in the next six years.
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