Ballarat Day Procedure Centre founder Dr Robert Sheen retires

Twenty-one years ago, plastic surgeon Dr Robert Sheen alongside anaesthetist Dr Greg Henderson opened the Ballarat Day Procedure Centre.

The medical facility in Wendouree offers a number of procedures including ear, nose and throat surgeries, oncology and in vitro fertilisation.

As the private hospital celebrates its 21st birthday, Dr Sheen completed his last surgery.

"I'm stepping down because I think doctors need to function at 100 per cent of their capacity and I want to finish well before that 100 per cent capacity is exhausted," Dr Sheen told The Courier.

With the scrubs packed away, Dr Sheen said he was hoping to "learn how to have a holiday".

He said his wife, nurse Paula Sheen, had been his number one support "through [his] whole career" and felt privileged to be able to help patients and have a positive impact on the community.

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Annually, the centre takes care of 7500 surgical and 3000 oncology patients, who could come from as far away as Melbourne's western suburbs and the NSW and South Australian border.

Dr Sheen said there had been a number of changes to the centre since it opened more than two decades ago - mainly more people coming in and out the door.

As surgery practices change more patients are able to be seen in and treated in a day rather than staying at a hospital overnight.

Dr Sheen said there had been "very significant changes" as staff upskilled to "cope with these ... more complex cases".

Looking back, he said he was "immensely proud of what has happened with the centre".

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of pressures have been highlighted in the Ballarat health system, including doctors' inability to offer fully bulk-billed appointments and long wait lists for elective surgery.

Centre chief executive Brad Robinson said they had seen an uptick of patients over the past two years as public sector waiting lists grow and it was more challenging to access services.

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"Patients have more of a propensity to utilise their own funds ... to seek treatment in a private facility," he said.

While not everyone can access the treatment because of the limitations of their centre, Mr Robinson said they were able to take some of the pressure off so Ballarat's two hospitals could focus on emergency care and complex cases involving overnight stays.

Mr Robinson said the Cura Group, which owns the centre, is looking to keep expanding services offered at the Howitt Street facility.

This could include an expanded central sterilising department and increased theatre capacity as well as more cancer and IVF services.

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