Bendigo Hospital

Built over two stages, the $630 million Bendigo Hospital has connected three separate sites into one unified precinct to support bringing the very best healthcare, technology and research to regional Victoria.

Stage One, the main hospital build, delivered:

• 372 inpatient unit beds
• 72 same-day acute beds
• 80-bed mental health unit
• a five-bed mother-and-baby unit
• 25-bed maternity unit
• 11 operating theatres
• a multi-modality medical imaging department
• a regional integrated cancer centre with four radiotherapy bunkers and capacity to expand to six in the future
• a 100-place childcare
• a wellness centre
• 128 serviced apartments
• retail shops and cafes.

Stage One also included the restoration of historic heritage buildings including the Hope Street wall, the Anne Caudle Centre, the former Lying-in Hospital, West Wing, Concert Hall and the former Superintendent’s Building.

Stage Two of the Bendigo Hospital project was completed in June 2018 and included:

• a two-level link bridge over Arnold Street
• a helipad
• a multi-deck 1350 vehicle carpark
• 15 short-stay accommodation units
• a conference facility
• significant infrastructure and landscaping upgrades.

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.

The Bendigo Hospital project was delivered as a public-private partnership (PPP) under the Victorian Government’s Partnerships Victoria policy.

This involved a partnership between the Victorian Government, Bendigo Health and Exemplar Health consortium.

The Exemplar Health consortium included:

• Capella Capital – who sponsored the project and provided finance advisory services to Exemplar Health
• Lendlease – responsible for design and construction of the hospital
• Design partners also included Norman Disney Young, Silver Thomas Hanley and Bates Smart
• Spotless Facility Services – the facility management provider responsible for maintaining the hospital for the next 25 years.

The collaboration between Exemplar Health, the Victorian Government and Bendigo Health has resulted in a high level of design and planning excellence, and one that’s allowed Bendigo Health to focus on delivering the best quality care to patients in world-class facilities.

Community engagement

A significant partner in the delivery of the new Bendigo Hospital was the Loddon Mallee community.

With a major stake in the hospital, the community were involved from the outset by joining advisory committees and contributing their ideas in the planning and design of the facility.

An appeal by Bendigo Health Foundation saw the community contribute $2 million to the hospital project, enabling a second cardiac catheterisation laboratory to be built.

Building on their deep cultural heritage in Bendigo since the gold rush, the local Chinese community have raised funds for the hospital every year and a Chinese garden and mural were erected in their honour.

The local Aboriginal community were also contributed to the hospital project. The Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Corporation and Bendigo Health’s Aboriginal Hospital Liaison officers met with the community to discuss their needs and aspirations for the facility. Their input resulted in an expanded Aboriginal unit and dedicated courtyard with areas for families and a ceremonial smoking pit for healing.

Artist impressions released

December 2013
The community take in the first designs of Stage One of the Bendigo Hospital project. Designed by architects Bates Smart and Silver Thomas Hanley, the hospital champions natural light and a tranquil healing environment.

Stage One build of the new hospital begins

June 2014
Construction of the new Bendigo hospital begins as 134,000 tonnes of soil is excavated to prepare the site for the first concrete slab.

Name the cranes competition

April 2014
A ‘Name the Cranes’ competition was launched by Exemplar Health, Lendlease and Bendigo Health which saw local Bendigo children name four of the cranes during the construction of the hospital. The winning names were ‘Ben’, ‘Maximus’, ‘Cranium’ and ‘Lucy in the Sky.’

Equipment arrives and the internal atrium takes shape

September 2016
Stage One of the Bendigo Hospital build continues to progress with the installation of an MRI machine via truck and crane into the building. Inside, the stunning trees that occupy the ground floor atrium are installed – bringing the ‘outside’ into the hospital.

Move in day

January 2017
After months of meticulous planning, approximately 1000 medical staff and volunteers transported 170 patients from the old Bendigo Hospital to the new in what was a seamless transition and three hours ahead of schedule.

Stage One complete

Early 2017
Stage One – the main Bendigo Hospital build reaches completion on time and on budget , a spectacular result for the Bendigo community and Loddon Mallee region. Patients are transferred from the old hospital to the new facility.

Installation of the link bridge

March 2018
Unprecedented rainfall in summer didn’t stop the installation of the multi-deck link bridge which connects the 1350 vehicle carpark and helipad to the main Bendigo Hospital. The installation saw roads closed and powerlines moved to ensure the structural pieces of the bridge were delivered safely.

Finishing touches on Bendigo’s first helipad

June 2018
‘H’ marks the spot on Bendigo’s first ever helipad. The helipad is a vital feature of the new hospital that is ensuring more people across the Loddon Mallee region can get critical care faster.

Bendigo Hospital officially complete

August 2018
Built over five years and two stages, the $630m Bendigo Hospital is now complete and stands as the biggest ever investment in regional healthcare in Victoria’s history.

A testament to the Victorian Government, Bendigo Health and Exemplar Health, the new Bendigo Hospital is a brilliant example of how technology, design and community consultation can together create a hospital ready to respond to the health needs of the region now, and into the future.

Bendigo Hospital sets high standards in design, technological sophistication, environmental sustainability and community integration which has been recognised through the number of awards it has received, including:

• Victorian Development of the Year and Best Public Building Victoria
Innovation and Excellence Awards, Property Council of Australia (2018)

• Best Public Architecture (Victoria)
Australian Institute of Architects Awards (2018)

• Best healthcare facility (Asia Pacific)
International Interior Design Association awards (2017)

• Contractor Excellence
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia Awards (2018)

• Premier’s Regional Recognition Award and Best Large Business
Premier’s Sustainability Awards (2017)

• Best Commercial Interior
Australian Timber Design Awards (2017)

The new Bendigo Hospital has been an outstanding example of how public-private partnerships (PPP) can work. Project partners included the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority, Bendigo Health and the Exemplar Health consortium.

The partnership has achieved project innovations that would not otherwise have been realised. This includes the hospital’s link bridge, the new 128-room hotel and the amalgamation of three sites into one precinct.

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

Environmental sustainability was one of the eight components Exemplar Health used to guide the project, with the aim to provide a healthier environment within the building for patients and staff, and a healthier physical environment externally to the broader community.

The building integrates sustainable thinking into all elements of the design to create a healing and therapeutic environment.

The design of new Bendigo Hospital incorporates a dedicated Aboriginal space which involved consultation with the Dja Dja Warrung community during the hospital’s planning and building.

The new hospital has a culturally significant garden with a smoking pit for traditional ceremonies, signifying the great importance that the Aboriginal community has within the Bendigo and greater Loddon Mallee region.