Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre

Completed in 2016, the award-winning Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre project included: 

• 96 overnight inpatient beds 
• 110 chemotherapy, medical and surgical same-day beds and chairs 
• six operating theatres and two procedure rooms 
• overnight accommodation for country patients, their families and carers 
• dedicated clinical trials unit with 24 places 
• a cyclotron for imaging procedures 
• eight radiation therapy bunkers with five linear accelerators in operation 
• 25,000+ square metres of research space 
• education and training facilities 
• 700 space basement car park 
• 350 space bicycle facility with showers and change rooms for staff 
• 50 space bicycle storage facility for visitors. 

The development also included a four-storey extension to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, which provided: 

• 42 bed capacity critical care unit
• new central sterilising services department
• two new operating theatres, one fitted with an intra-operative MRI 
• new 32 bed haematology inpatient unit 
• refurbished medi-hotel beds 
• refurbished medical library and simulation/training facilities 
• new 32 bed unit for future fit-out to facilitate consolidation of existing RMH beds. 

The new facilities provided up to 25 per cent more clinical capacity for Peter MacCallum and Melbourne Health cancer services. 

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre project aimed to provide the following benefits: The project delivered a $1+ billion world-class, purpose-built cancer research, treatment, care and education hub in inner Melbourne. 

The building provides a new home for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and new cancer research and clinical services for Melbourne Health (including the Royal Melbourne Hospital), new cancer research facilities for the University of Melbourne and new education facilities for all building partners. 

The development comprises a new 13-storey building bordering Flemington Road, Grattan Street and Elizabeth Street, and the construction of four new floors on top of the existing Royal Melbourne Hospital. 

The new building and the extension to the Royal Melbourne Hospital are linked by covered bridges above Grattan Street, allowing patients, visitors and staff to move between the two buildings. 

The new building features space for more than 1,200 cancer researchers. 

The translation of research discoveries into new treatments will be enhanced with cancer researchers from leading organisations working under the one roof alongside cancer clinicians and their patients, maximising opportunities for collaboration and information sharing. 

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre is much more than just a hospital. 

It also brings together ten world-leading Victorian-based cancer organisations to share knowledge and resources to drive the next generation of cancer research, education, treatment and care.  The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre partnership comprises: 

• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Melbourne Health (including the Royal Melbourne Hospital)
• the University of Melbourne
• the Royal Women’s Hospital
• Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• the Royal Children’s Hospital
• St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (including St Vincent's Institute)
• Western Health
• Austin Health (including the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and Austin Lifesciences)
• Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Delivered under a public-private partnership, the Victorian Government contracted the Plenary Health consortium – comprising Plenary Group, the Grocon PCL builder joint venture and Honeywell – to design, build, finance and maintain the project for 25 years.