Hospitals 19 August 2025

Overview

Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment - Newsletter #1 | August 2025

Welcome to our first Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment project newsletter!

Your bigger, better Ballarat Base Hospital is in its final stage of construction. In this stage, we’re building a new hospital tower with seven levels. The tower will include a new main entrance, emergency department, women and children’s hub, operating theatre suite, helipad and an extra 100 beds. Construction of the tower is on track for completion in 2027.

We’ve already delivered a new Central Energy Plant and Support Services (CEPSS) building on Drummond Street and expanded the multi-deck carpark off Mair Street.

In this issue, you can learn about:

site progress and what’s coming up
fun facts about the project
the cranes honouring Ballarat locals with sky high honours
Matt Whittle, Senior Project Manager, Built

Site progress

three tower cranes installed on-site
demolition works finished
bulk excavation 91% done
foundation works nearing completion
retention piling works completed
concrete slabs poured for basement of new tower.

The new hospital tower demolition site.

Concrete slabs being poured.

Coming up

foundation works will finish including excavation and piling
fourth tower crane will be installed
basement construction works will finish
in-ground services will be installed
start of structural works on the new tower.

Did you know?

581 people have worked on-site.
202,900 hours worked in total.
Approximately 200 of inducted workers are local.
31,990 cubic metres of soil has been removed from the ground.
241 retention piles have been installed.
95% of demolition materials were recycled.

Cranes named: Sky high honours for Ballarat locals

Three tower cranes on the redevelopment site have been named after Ballarat locals – Josie Ashmore, Wasek Faisal, and brothers Ashton Kline and Grant Monks – in honour of their contributions to healthcare and the local community.

The names ‘Josie’, ‘Wasek’ and ‘Ashton and Grant’ will be high in Ballarat’s skyline on the tower cranes building the new hospital tower.

The naming of these three cranes follows on from the Stage 2 crane named after volunteer Maureen Woodford.

Meet the remarkable locals

Retired nurse Josie Ashmore

Josie began her 35-year nursing career at Grampians Health in 1969 (then known as Ballarat Health Service). Following major abdominal surgery ten years ago, she started handmaking fabric bags for visible draining tubes after she saw how they gave patients a sense of dignity and comfort post-surgery. Since then, Josie has made over 2,000 fabric bags for patients.

Associate Professor Wasek Faisal

Wasek is a medical oncologist and oncology research lead for Grampians Health. He is a leading figure in lung cancer clinical research and patient care. He is passionate about driving cutting-edge cancer research and treatment in regional areas and delivering care closer to home. Wasek’s team has been at the forefront of clinical trials at Grampians Health.

Siblings Ashton Kline and Grant Monks

Siblings Ashton and Grant share a story of unimaginable hardship and extraordinary resilience, courage and compassion. As children, their mother's life was tragically taken by their violent father.

Grant has faced a lifelong battle with kidney disease and multiple failed transplants. He channels his experiences into advocacy, raising awareness and support for others with chronic illness. He is now an undergraduate clinical placement coordinator and nurse for Grampians Health.

Ashton, who once administered daily dialysis to Grant as a teen, has gone on to care for others through his career, and through his advocacy for victims of family violence. Ashton now works as a switchboard operator for Grampians Health, and is a Kidney Health Australia ambassador.

Learn more and watch the videos about Josie, Wasek, Ashton and Grant.

Gallery

Four people stand smiling infront of a new building

Wasek, Grant, Josie and Ashton

Josie’s 48-metre crane high in Ballarat’s skyline

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Meet the project team

Matt Whittle, Senior Project Manager, Built

A man in a collared shirt smiles at the camera

'My job involves the management of the client, subcontractors, and consultants, to ensure everyone is working together to get the project completed safely, on time and to a high quality.'

'Every day presents new challenges and is rarely the same as the day before. So, I’m always problem solving and trying to get the best outcomes for everyone, and I enjoy doing this.'

Resides in: Ballan for the last 12 years, originally from Bacchus Marsh

Favourite thing about the area: “It’s big enough and small enough at the same time. It feels like a country town with a lot of open spaces, trees, light traffic and fresh air – something that is familiar and inviting to me. It also has most of the larger city benefits, albeit in a limited fashion, meaning that pretty much everything you need is there.”

Local recommendation: “Obviously, Lake Wendouree is a great local spot to visit for a walk, run or barbeque, especially in spring to autumn. Take a jacket in the winter.”

Learn more about the Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment via our dedicated project page.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment project acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the Ballarat Base Hospital sits, the Wadawurrung peoples, and their connections to land, waterways and community.

We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend this to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Illustration of community engagement for the Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment

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Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment - Newsletter #1 | August 2025

Site progress

Coming up

Did you know?