Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment

The redevelopment of Ballarat Base Hospital will deliver:

• a multilevel hospital tower
• a new emergency department including:
  • a mental health, alcohol and other drugs hub
• a new and expanded women and children’s hub
• a new state-of-the-art theatre suite
• an extra 100 inpatient and short stay beds
• a new and expanded critical care floor
• a new helipad
• an expanded car park providing 400 extra car spaces
• a new central energy plant and support services building, including:
  • new pharmacy and pathology facilities
  • a new Education and Learning Centre.

The new and expanded critical care floor will include:

• operating theatres
• procedure rooms
• an expanded intensive care unit
• endoscopy suites
• consulting rooms.

The new and expanded women's and children's hub will include:

• 23 maternity beds
• five birthing suites
• 12 special care nursery cots.

The redevelopment will also deliver a new main entrance and emergency department entrance off Sturt Street.

The new entrance will improve access for patients, families and emergency vehicles, as well as deliver urgently needed short-term carparking and safe drop-off zones.

To prepare for the future, in May 2018 the Victorian Government announced it would invest $461.6 million to redevelop the Ballarat Base Hospital.

A further $80 million was announced in the 2020-21 Victorian State Budget to build a new central energy plant.

In 2023, $54 million was announced to deliver a helipad and an expansion to the multi-deck carpark.

An extra $54.6 million was announced in the 2024-25 State Budget to deliver an expanded women's and children's hub and address cost pressures due to construction market escalation. An extra $5.4 million has been provided to deliver a mental health, alcohol and other drugs hubs in the new emergency department.

This brings the total investment to $655 million.

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment aims to achieve the following benefits:

More patients treated

The redevelopment will provide additional capacity to treat at least 18,000 more emergency patients and an extra 14,500 inpatients each year. With new models of care and new design guidelines, the redevelopment will be flexible and able to respond to increasing demand expected over the coming years.

More surgeries

A new and expanded critical care floor will bring together operating theatres, procedure rooms, an expanded intensive care unit, endoscopy suites and consulting rooms. This will deliver capacity for an extra 4,000 surgeries every year.

Urgent mental health care where and when it's needed

A new mental health, alcohol and other drugs hub will allow more emergency patients experiencing mental health, alcohol and other drugs issues to be assessed, treated and monitored by specialists before being discharged. The hub aims to reduce the impact on the acute treatment cubicles within the emergency department and to allow patients to be seen and treated faster.

Acute mental health services

Grampians Health and the Department of Health are reviewing the outcomes from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System to identify how mental health services should be delivered into the future.

The recommendations and best practice have been considered in the design of the broader redevelopment, in particular in the new emergency department and women and children’s hub.

A boost in local jobs

The redevelopment will also boost employment in the region, with more than 1,400 construction jobs expected to be created. Once fully operational, up to 1,000 extra positions will be created at the hospital.

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment is being delivered in stages to minimise disruption to the existing hospital.

Stage one: Early works (complete)

Stage one involved relocating some hospital functions to allow for critical demolition works and the continuity of services throughout construction.

As part of works to prepare the site for the next stage of the redevelopment, Ballarat Base Hospital’s Eildon House and the Edward Wilson Building on Drummond St were demolished in 2022.

This paved the way for construction of a new central energy plant and support services building.

Stage two: Central energy plant and carpark (complete)

Stage 2 involved the delivery of the central energy plant and support services building (CEPSS). This building houses new pharmacy facilities and an education and learning centre. Construction on the CEPSS building was completed in October 2024.

Stage 2 also delivered an expansion of the hospital’s multi-deck carpark. Construction was completed August 2024. Once fully operational, the total number of hospital carparks will be around 800.

The extra carparks have been delivered as part of Regional Development Victoria’s commitment to provide an extra 1000 carparks in Ballarat through the Regional Car Parks Fund.

Stage three: Main works (underway)

The final stage of the redevelopment got underway in July 2024. Main works includes construction of the new multi-level hospital tower and new main entrance on Sturt Street. Construction is expected to be complete in late 2027.

Community consultative committee

A community consultative committee (CCC) was established for the Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment.

The CCC met five times in 2021. The committee was led by former Premier and Ballarat local Steve Bracks, alongside Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison and Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle.

The committee provided advice on a range of areas and issues including the patient and family experience, the vision for indoor and outdoor family spaces and wayfinding.

Community consultation report

The local community told us through public consultation and the CCC that short term carparking and improved accessibility and wayfinding are important to them. We have listened and reflected these priorities in the designs for the hospital redevelopment. Learn more in the community consultation report.

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment is a major construction project. It is expected there will be some temporary impacts that will affect the local community.

Temporary impacts may include:

• increased vehicle and people movement in the area
• changes to access
• localised noise and vibration
• dust.

These impacts will be closely monitored and minimised where possible.

We are committed to keeping the community updated. Works will be communicated through the Grampians Health website, this project page, local media and directly to residents where appropriate.

Relocated hospital services

A number of hospital functions will be relocated to new spaces as part of the redevelopment. Access paths may also change to ensure the safety of staff and patients. These changes will be clearly communicated through the Grampians Health website and directly to staff and patients where appropriate.

Helipad

A new helipad will be constructed on the new multi-level tower with direct access to the emergency theatre and operating theatres.

While the new hospital tower and helipad are being constructued, Ambulance Victoria will temporarily land helicopters at nearby facilities such Ballarat Airport or the City Oval. Alternative flight paths are currently used during poor weather when access to the Ballarat Base Hospital is restricted.

This project is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority in partnership with:

• Grampians Health
• DesignInc (architects – stage 1)
• H. Troon (builder – stage 1)
• Lyons (architects – stage 2 and 3)
• John Holland (builder – stage 2)
• Built (builder – stage 3).

There will be no interruption to healthcare services at Ballarat Base Hospital during construction.

Ballarat Base Hospital will maintain full operational capacity throughout the redevelopment to ensure the continuity of care for the community.

To get the latest Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up to the mailing list.

If you have any questions, please email the redevelopment team at bbhrproject@health.vic.gov.au.