Hospitals 22 December 2021

New Footscray Hospital Project Newsletter #2 | December 2021

Welcome to our second project newsletter!

After nine months of construction the site of the new Footscray Hospital has been transformed, with excavation of more than 130,000 cubic metres of dirt and rock. Around 25 per cent of excavation work remains, which is expected to be completed through January, February and March next year.

Work on the ground slab is now underway, including construction of the concrete core, structural columns and suspended slab.

Neighbours and locals keeping track of the construction works will start to recognise the separate hospital buildings as they take form and begin to emerge from the footprint foundations.

Eight cranes have already been installed on site with two more to arrive early in the New Year.

We appreciate the understanding and support of the community this year and hope you enjoy reading about the new hospital’s progress. All works will stop over the Christmas break with the last day on site planned for 22 December and the first day back on 11 January 2022.

The project team wishes all our neighbours and stakeholders a restful holiday.

Emerging from the ground

Since the first sod was turned in March this year the focus of much of the construction work has been beneath the surface to excavate and then build the substructure of the future hospital. Let’s take a look at what’s been happening.

New Footscray Hospital excavation machinery

In October, more than 130,000 cubic metres of dirt and rock had been excavated (75 per cent of the total amount to be removed from the site).

Eight concrete slabs have now been poured. Work on the ground slab is also underway, including construction of the concrete core, structural columns and suspended slab.

Foundations have been poured and works are nearing ground level.

Name the cranes - honouring Dr Hai Bui and Mavis Mitchell

The New Footscray Hospital Community Consultative Committee and Western Health have worked together to name two of the new tower cranes recently installed on the site of the new hospital.

The two honourees have been unveiled as Dr Hai Bui, a surgeon at the current Footscray Hospital, and the late Mavis Mitchell, an icon of the West and Footscray Hospital’s first matron.

Both recipients have inspiring stories and are being recognised because of their significant contribution to healthcare in the community.

Look up at the skyline on site to spot ‘Hai Bui and Mavis’ on their cranes.

Dr Hai Bui

Arriving in Australia as a 19-year-old refugee from Vietnam, Dr Bui attended the University of Melbourne medical school, where he studied medicine and learned to speak English at the same time. He is now an upper gastrointestinal surgeon for Western Health and has dedicated his life, and much of his career, to the people of the West.

Dr Bui is commended by his colleagues for the enthusiasm and innovation he brings to the role, but more importantly his commitment to help ease the lives of the patients in his care.

Mavis Mitchell

The late Mavis Mitchell is remembered as an icon of the West and one whose story is well known within Footscray Hospital and Western Health.

Returning to Australia following time in the British Army’s Nursing Service during World War II, she then became Footscray Hospital’s first matron in 1952.

The naming of the crane will be an extension to celebrating the legacy she left behind.

She is currently honoured through the Mavis Mitchell Memorial Scholarship and the Mavis Mitchell Room at Footscray Hospital, acknowledging her commitment to nurse education and leadership.

Heavy lifting for hospital build

Tower crane work is team work. Each tower crane is operated by a team of four including one driver and three ground crew.

While the driver is operating the crane, the rest of the crane crew keep their feet firmly on the ground, hooking up loads, keeping in contact with the driver and unhooking the load after it reaches its new location on site.

Cranes are delivered and assembled on site on large trucks, with a total of 10 cranes being used to build the new hospital.

Eight cranes have already been installed this year, with two more to be erected in 2022. For the keen crane spotters, you may also notice there are mobile cranes used to lift certain loads or help install or maintain fixed tower cranes.

When Multiplex’s tower crane drivers are shifting loads around the 40,000 square metre site, they are doing so from around 70 metres above ground level. This means crane operators need a special licence to perform the job.

The largest crane on the new hospital site is able to lift loads weighing up to 25 tonnes.

Introducing the new virtual engagement room

The award-winning new Footscray Hospital virtual engagement room closed on 31 May 2022. The accessible version of the virtual engagement room continues to be available on our website.

Recently we launched a virtual engagement room for the New Footscray Hospital Project, where community members are invited to ‘meet the builder’ and learn more about the design and construction of the $1.5 billion new hospital.

While we have been unable to meet in person for much of this year, visitors to the virtual room can explore interviews with the project’s builders and experience a 3D tour of the final designs from the comfort of their home.

The room also includes kids’ activities and an opportunity to contribute to a time capsule that will be placed on the New Footscray Hospital site.

With information in multiple languages, the room showcases construction milestones, design images and the community that has helped shape this once in a generation investment for Melbourne’s West.

The virtual room allows visitors to submit questions to the Project team and download further information.

Project neighbours thank you

While our ‘street meet with the builder’ event with our project neighbours was postponed due to the weather, we enjoyed the opportunity to meet with some of our residents when the rain cleared, enjoy a bite to eat from the food truck and answer some of your questions.

Thank you to those who attended the rescheduled event/site drop-in. We look forward to hosting more in person events in 2022.

Connecting workers to the new hospital project

A new jobs hub is connecting local workers with career opportunities on the $1.5 billion New Footscray Hospital Project. Established by Apprenticeships Victoria in partnership with the Victorian Health Building Authority, Plenary Health, and builder Multiplex, the Jobs Hub provides a one-stop shop for work and training opportunities.

In the heart of Footscray’s retail and café strip, the Jobs Hub will connect industry, contractors, jobseekers, students, social enterprises and the community by creating employment and training opportunities, as well as social value initiatives on the project.

The Jobs Hub combines The Footscray Connectivity Centre and Victoria University’s Skills and Jobs Centre under the same roof at Metro West.

The ‘Connectivity Centre’ concept is a Multiplex initiative used on major projects nationally since 2008. The Centre helps companies to increase the number of apprentices and trainees on major projects and meet the Government’s Local Jobs First Policy requirement that at least10 per cent of total work hours are done by apprentices, trainees or cadets.

The New Footscray Hospital Project will employ more than 2,000 people at peak construction, of which an estimated 177 are new, project-specific jobs, including 70 apprenticeships, traineeships and cadetships.

The Connectivity Centre and Jobs Hub is located at 138 Nicholson Street, Footscray. If you are interested in employment and training opportunities at the New Footscray Hospital contact footscray@theconnectivitycentre.com.au.

Timeline 2022 - onsite works lookahead

January/February 2022 Site works recommence. Geelong Road slip lane construction completed. First of the suspended slab works begin near Geelong Road and Federal Street boundary. Concrete structure works continue on Federal Street car park, Tiernan Street building and Victoria University building.

January/February 2022

Site works recommence. Geelong Road slip lane construction completed. First of the suspended slab works begin near Geelong Road and Federal Street boundary. Concrete structure works continue on Federal Street car park, Tiernan Street building and Victoria University building.
March 2022 Hospital excavation works complete. Sub-Acute Hospital concrete slab work begins facing Ballarat Road.

March 2022

Hospital excavation works complete. Sub-Acute Hospital concrete slab work begins facing Ballarat Road.
April 2022 Acute Hospital Building concrete slab work begins near Geelong and Ballarat Road boundary. Suspended slab and structural columns on Federal Street Building continue.

April 2022

Acute Hospital Building concrete slab work begins near Geelong and Ballarat Road boundary. Suspended slab and structural columns on Federal Street Building continue.
May 2022 Concrete pours continue across the site.

May 2022

Concrete pours continue across the site.

Contact us

Contact the project hotline at (03) 9999 1985 or email nfhenquiry@health.vic.gov.au.

Translation services

The Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) is available (24 hours, 7 days) for callers who speak other languages. Call 131 450.

Vietnamese: Nếu bạn muốn thông tin này được dịch sang tiếng Việt, vui lòng gọi số 131 450
Chinese: 如果您想将此信息翻译成中文，请致电 131 450
Sudanese: Upami anjeun hoyong inpormasi ieu ditarjamahkeun kana basa Sudan, punten nelepon ka 131 450
Arabic: 131450 ذا كنت ترغب في ترجمة هذه المعلومات إلى اللغة العربية ، فيرجى الاتصال على
Spanish: Si desea que esta información se traduzca al español, llame al 131 450
Italian: Se desideri che queste informazioni siano tradotte in italiano, chiama il 131 450

Partnerships

This project is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority in partnership with Western Health, and the Plenary Health consortium.