Melbourne’s new $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital has treated about 19,000 admitted patients and handled 23,000 emergency department presentations during its first six months of operation, as demand for health services continues to grow across the city’s west.
The hospital, which opened to patients in February, has also performed more than 5,000 surgeries and delivered close to 50,000 specialist outpatient appointments during the period. Almost 100,000 patient meals have been served.
The new hospital replaced the former Footscray Hospital and, once fully operational, will have more than 500 beds, almost 200 more than its predecessor. It is expected to have capacity to treat an additional 15,000 patients each year, while the expanded emergency department is designed to accommodate another 20,000 patients annually.
Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the early patient numbers showed the scale of the hospital’s role in Melbourne’s west.
“Only Labor is building and opening new hospitals and delivering more care for Victorians, closer to home,” Stitt said.
The emergency department includes additional resuscitation and fast-track bays, acute and short-stay beds and a satellite radiology hub intended to allow patients to undergo imaging without being transferred elsewhere in the hospital.
A dedicated mental health and alcohol and other drugs hub has also been incorporated into the emergency department, allowing patients requiring those services to be directed to specialist care rather than remaining in the general emergency area.
About 120 volunteers have joined the hospital since it opened, collectively speaking more than 30 languages. The multilingual workforce reflects the communities served by the hospital across Footscray and surrounding suburbs, one of Melbourne’s most culturally diverse areas.
The state government is also building a new hospital at Melton, planning a community hospital at Point Cook and expanding the emergency department at Werribee Mercy Hospital
Member for Footscray Katie Hall said the move to the new hospital had changed the way health services were being delivered locally.
“In just six months, the new Footscray Hospital has transformed how locals get the free public healthcare they need,” Hall said.
The Footscray project forms part of a series of hospital developments under way across Melbourne’s rapidly growing western suburbs. The state government is also building a new hospital at Melton, planning a community hospital at Point Cook and expanding the emergency department at Werribee Mercy Hospital.
Labor used the six-month milestone to renew its attack on the opposition over health funding, linking its hospital building program to its campaign against spending cuts it says would follow a change of government.
Stitt said Victorians should be wary of what she described as a “One Nation Liberal Coalition”, saying: “Victoria cannot risk a One Nation Liberal Coalition – their $40 billion cuts plan means one thing: cuts. Cuts to hospitals. Cuts to nurses. Cuts to ambos.”
The government did not provide evidence in the material accompanying the hospital figures that the opposition planned to close or privatise hospitals, and its claims about future health cuts form part of Labor’s political case against the Coalition ahead of the Victorian election.
The hospital’s opening in February marked the completion of one of Victoria’s largest recent health infrastructure projects, with the new facility designed to provide additional capacity as population growth continues across Melbourne’s west.
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