Werribee Mercy Hospital mental health expansion

The new 54-bed mental health facility in the Clare Moore Building delivered:

• a four bed psychiatric assessment and planning unit
• a 10 bed high dependency unit
• a 40 bed low dependency unit.

Together with the $85 million expansion of Werribee Mercy Hospital’s critical care unit, the total number of beds at the hospital has now increased to 298.

The new 54-bed mental health facility in the Clare Moore Building aimed to achieve the following benefits:

Increased privacy

Individual rooms are spacious and sensitively designed, and there are no shared patient rooms. Each room has an ensuite, ensuring privacy for all patients. The facility also includes female only areas, ensuring safe environments for women accessing acute mental health treatment.

Person-centred design

Natural light floods through the building and five courtyards provide welcomed outdoor spaces. Areas within the building have also been named to destigmatise mental health and promote recovery. For example, ‘seclusion rooms’ have been named ‘personal safety rooms’.

Access to specialist mental health services

About one in five Australians will experience an episode of mental illness during any one year. The 54-bed mental health facility enables more vulnerable Victorians to receive the care and treatment they need closer to home. The expansion also enables Werribee Mercy Hospital to meet growing demand or services in Melbourne’s west.

Local jobs

Fourteen new jobs including apprenticeships were created and 25 existing positions were retained for the duration of the building project. 

This project was delivered by the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority in partnership with:

• Mercy Health
• Lyons Architects
• SJ Higgins (builder).

Please note: As of 1 February 2021, the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority (VHHSBA) became the Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA).