Building begins on Sunshine Hospital’s new emergency department

Construction began today on the $34.8 million Sunshine Hospital emergency department expansion. Locals in Melbourne’s rapidly growing west will soon have even better and faster access to world-class care – when they need it the most.

The expanded emergency department at Sunshine Hospital, on Furlong Road in St Albans, is expected to open in late 2021.

Sunshine’s emergency department is one of the busiest in Victoria and currently treats around 65,000 patients a year. When construction has finished, Sunshine will be able to treat an extra 59,000 patients a year. This will almost double the amount of patients that can access world-class care.

A third of Sunshine’s emergency patients are children aged 16 years and under. The upgrade will provide a new separate children’s emergency treatment section – just for kids. This area is designed to provide kids with a calmer and friendlier space to receive treatment, and will be able to treat 19,700 children a year.

The project also includes $5.3 million for a Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Crisis Centre. This specialised centre will assess, treat and monitor patients in urgent need of assistance. It will also ease pressure on the emergency department, meaning more patients can be treated – faster.

Melbourne is growing, and so are our health needs. The Victorian Government has invested a massive $3.8 billion into state-of-the-art hospital projects – with many in the rapidly growing western region.

The $200 million Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital opened in Sunshine this year. Planning is underway on the $1.5 billion new Footscray Hospital and the new hospital in Melton.

Learn more about the Sunshine Hospital emergency department expansion via our dedicated project page.