Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment: no plans for second hospital

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, in visiting Ballarat on Friday, said there were no plans for a second public hospital in the city - Ballarat Base Hospital had the capacity to build up or shift other medical services to other community bases.

This follows a business report from Grampians Health the $541.6 million redevelopment works underway would not be able to keep up with service demand, which had grown twice as fast as expected the past five years.

Premier Andrews said the redevelopment project was another beginning with "significant future-proofing" for when it was needed. He said it would take time to fill out shell space and to add floors to what was being built now.

The premier also pointed to a new billion dollar hospital being built in Melton, and another in Footscray set to open in 2025, both of which should help take pressure of service demand in Ballarat from the western suburbs.

"Part of this is you've got to get it right. You don't build these things in a year, you don't build them even in two years, they take time," Premier Andrews said. "You've got to get the planning right because you're running it as a hospital and a building site at the same time.

"If you could shut the whole place down you could build it really fast but then, where would all those patients go... There's a lot of planning goes into this to make sure it's not just about Ballarat Base Hospital for today, or for tomorrow but it's even right out in the future for many years to come."

The premier said Ballarat's hospital redevelopment was one of the biggest health projects in regional Australia.

Grampians Health chief executive Dale Fraser said the investment was "phenomenal" but was only part of a larger long-term master plan to respond to growth.

Premier Andrews visited Base Hospital redevelopment works on Friday, including the Gardiner-Pittard wing, a state government project that opened in 2017 with a "shell floor" now housing outpatients.

That wing has been designed with capacity for another three storeys to be added above and will not be touched in the redevelopment plans in play.

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Ballarat's new emergency department, to be off Sturt Street, will form the base of a mutli-storey tower and will be able to cater for a second helipad while, at this stage, there were no plans or budget for a new helipad.

Mr Fraser told media in April works approved in the existing redevelopment plans would offer capacity to service the region for another 20 to 30 years.

He remained confident, even with changed pressures stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital would still have the capacity to more than meet demand.

But Mr Fraser said this was also about more than just expanding the hospital.

Grampians Health was part of a city-wide alliance lobbying for six key projects in a Ballarat: Now and Into the Future 2022 campaign unveiled in April. Within this, Mr Fraser flagged a proposed $15 million community mental health facility with the view existing facilities in the Queen Victoria building, which is part of the Base Hospital precinct, were no longer fit for purpose.

"There are a range of other buildings and spaces on the site we hope and expect to advocate strongly for into the future," Mr Fraser said on Friday.

"We have seen a moderation of demand certainly through ED [emergency department] in the last two years, certainly in regards to COVID, and we are looking at a range of things to cope with demand going into the future, whether they are home-based care, whether they are extension to other models and so forth. All those things are thrown into our arsenal of solutions.

"It is really tough...There is delays for emergency care. We take that very seriously. The staff work tirelessly every day."

The premier's visit was also to follow up on his announcement last weekend that Ballarat Base Hospital would share in an additional resource and staffing package. This will specifically support patient discharge and faster patient processing and care, particularly in the emergency department.

In the past month Grampians Health and St John of God Ballarat Hospital have united in multiple public messages about high demand on both emergency departments.

Mr Fraser said the latest staffing boost was not too late for winter and was part of a bigger picture to make an impact.

"We've been working with government for some time now on this initiative so we're really well progressed in our planning and actions against that," Mr Fraser said.

"Our ability to recruit to those roles will be fast-tracked and I think it will make an immediate impact to those individuals who need those services."