The Bendigo Hospital aimed to deliver the following benefits:
Patient-centred design
Designed by health planners Silver Thomas Hanley, in partnership with Bates Smart (architects) and Lendlease (construction), the award-winning Bendigo Hospital has set a new standard in patient care with bigger wards, more single rooms and technology innovations.
Flooded with natural light and surrounded by 46 courtyards and terraces, the new facility brings the outside in and is home to the largest green roof of any hospital in Australia.
The hospital incorporates a cancer centre that brings oncology, radiotherapy and specialist clinics into the same space, enabling multidisciplinary collaboration for health professionals and integrated care for patients and their families.
Spanning across 13 hectares, the hospital is home to Bendigo’s first helipad. The helipad means that Air Ambulance Victoria can land directly at Bendigo rather than Melbourne and patients can get life-saving critical care faster.
All 80 mental health beds are now located within the hospital, further destigmatising mental illness while providing a better patient experience and a streamlined healthcare approach.
The hospital also has Victoria’s first regional 24/7 mother and baby unit.
Technology
One of the most technically advanced hospitals in Australia, the new Bendigo Hospital features a number of innovations that ensure patients have a streamlined experience and clinicians can deliver world-class care.
Connected to 96 different interfaces, the Bendigo Hospital unifies complex systems to deliver a facility that is future-ready and reliable 24/7.
A sophisticated patient entertainment unit means patients can view their health information and results by the bedside with their doctor. Patients can also select meals tailored to their dietary requirements in real-time via the online food ordering system with the entertainment unit.
The entertainment unit features the latest movie and TV releases so patients can recovery in comfort.
Digital medical records ensure patient health information isn’t stored in five different systems but in one unified, safe and secure data bank accessible to clinicians in and outside of the hospital.
The Bendigo Hospital also incorporates 16 different telehealth services which provide specialist consultations to patients living across the Loddon Mallee region. Telehealth services are used to expand the walls of the hospital to remote and rural hospitals – providing clinical conferencing and training.
Real time location technology ensures nurses and clinicians can find medical equipment easily and efficiently while automated guided vehicles transport linen and food via wireless technology.
Complete with the right foundations and information architecture, Bendigo Hospital has the technological capabilities to continue to innovate for the next 20 years.
Sustainability
Bendigo Hospital is the first energy efficient, sustainable and future-ready facility in Victoria with uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and a tri-generation plant which provides instantaneous electricity, cooling and heating.
The hospital’s roof is also home to a 770 solar panel array – the largest in the southern hemisphere. The solar panel array generates clean energy which is fed into the hospital’s main power boards and provides an annual reduction in greenhouse gases of approximately 300,000 kilograms of CO2.
Bendigo Hospital’s 1000sqm green roof is not only a habitat for local plant species but assists in reducing glare and improving the buildings acoustic and thermal performance.
The hospital’s large roof area harvests and recycles 95 per cent of its rainwater collection – a critical feature given Bendigo and its surrounds have endured drought for the past decade.
Spanning across 13 hectares, the Bendigo Hospital creates a large footprint. Introducing sustainability features lessens the environmental impact of the buildings while providing a healthier physical environment for patients, staff and the community.
A large scale food dehydrator ensures there is no unnecessary food waste from the kitchen ending up in bins and landfill. The dehydrator turns food waste into a compost powder which is used as a safe and effective fertiliser on the hospital’s many gardens and green areas.
Economic benefit
The Bendigo Hospital proudly stands as the biggest regional development in Victoria’s history. The hospital project was not only a boost for regional healthcare services but to the local Bendigo economy.
In total, workers spent more than 2.6 million hours building both stages of the new hospital. At the peak of construction, 1000 workers were on site.
The project created around 140 jobs and retained a further 542, while local businesses were involved during the entire five year project providing services, materials and specialist expertise.