New Bendigo Hospital opens - leading the way in design and technology

Construction of the new $630 million Bendigo Hospital is now complete, giving patients better access to world-class health care with integrated cancer, mental health and maternity units.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Health Jill Hennessy officially opened the iconic new hospital, which was delivered by the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority (VHHSBA), Exemplar Health and Bendigo Health. It is the largest ever hospital redevelopment in regional Victoria.

VHHSBA CEO Robert Fiske says the vision for the new hospital was to ensure regional Victorians receive the same healthcare as their city counterparts.

'Bendigo Hospital will assist us to meet increasing demand for healthcare in regional Victoria,' Robert says.

'The new hospital provides high quality, integrated services, and includes a range of innovations.'

The massive state-of-the-art redevelopment was built in two stages. The first stage features 372 inpatient beds, 72 same-day beds, 11 new operating theatres, and an integrated cancer centre. There is also a 25-bed maternity unit and an 80-bed mental health unit, along with a childcare centre and affordable accommodation for visitors.

The second stage of the hospital redevelopment project was completed in June 2018, and features a multi-deck carpark, helipad, short-stay accommodation units, conference facility and retail outlets. In its first month, 14 helicopters landed on the new helipad to transfer critical patients.

The Bendigo Hospital is one of the most sustainable and technically advanced regional hospitals in Australia, featuring digital medical records, a sophisticated nurse call system, real time location for equipment, customised audio and visual screens with live stream capability, and bedside entertainment units that allow patients to order meals and view their healthcare information.

'We’ve managed to reduce over 300,000kg of greenhouse gas emissions through clever design innovations,' says Robert.

'We’ve also included automated vehicles that roam around the hospital, transporting everything from food, laundry and other materials throughout the hospital – it’s really impressive.'

The hospital has already been widely recognised for its role in setting new standards in innovative and sustainable healthcare design for regional communities – taking out the Victorian Development of the Year Award (2018) and two Premier’s Sustainability Awards (2017), among many other local and international awards.

According to Robert, the project also offers a great example of how government can work together with the public and private sector for the benefit of the whole community.

“This piece of infrastructure will be part of the Bendigo community for a very, very long time,” says Robert.

'The whole community will be really well serviced by all of our efforts over the past five to six years to deliver this important project.'

More than 10,000 patients have already been admitted in the hospital’s first few months of operation.

For more information, visit the Bendigo Hospital project page