And that's a wrap on the façade

The last piece of façade has been installed, marking the completion of the exterior of the hospital.

Work continues on the internal services and fit-out of the hospital. Let's take a look at what's been happening over the past few months.

Footscray locals and construction enthusiasts of all ages stopped to watch the installation of the pedestrian footbridge over Ballarat Road in March.

Spanning Ballarat Road, the 57-metre-long elevated footbridge, weighing 120 tonnes was carefully craned into place. The footbridge now provides a direct link between the hospital and Victoria University.

The bridge links to Victoria University’s research and education centre dedicated to health and medical training. This includes research and learning facilities for students studying:

• nursing and midwifery
• physiotherapy
• speech pathology
• dietetics, biomedicine, and psychology.

Ongoing works on the bridge will include a concrete pour and façade works. This will involve additional traffic impacts. More information will be provided to neighbouring residents in advance.

Congratulations to Multiplex and all those involved in the planning and successful installation of the bridge. Watch the bridge being lifted into place!

The new Footscray Hospital will house a 10-metre-long hand-woven tapestry, designed by First Nations artists Maree Clarke and Mitch Mahoney.

Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) and Mitch Mahoney (Boonwurrung/Barkindji) collaborated on the design, incorporating microscopic images of river reeds from the Maribyrnong River and skeletal drawings of local native flora and fauna.

Plenary Health New Footscray Hospital Project Chair, Kelvyn Lavelle, said: 'Mitch and Maree have designed a tapestry that will greet the public and staff with a striking visual connection to the local landscape, community and history of the west.'

Working closely with master weavers from the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Clarke and Mahoney’s artwork will be transformed into a three-dimensional tapestry spanning 4.2 x 10 metres, making it one of the largest tapestries ever produced for a public hospital in Victoria.

The new Footscray Hospital tapestry is the second major tapestry that forms The Premiers Suite, a partnership between the Tapestry Foundation of Australia, the State Government of Victoria and the Australian Hotels Association to fund the production of major tapestries in new hospitals in Victoria.

The tapestry is a collaboration between Plenary Group, the official arts partner for the new hospital, Footscray Community Arts, the Australian Tapestry Workshop, and the Tapestry Foundation of Australia, in collaboration with the Victorian Health Building Authority and Western Health.

The Western Health Graduate Program Awards were held in March, with nursing and midwifery staff recognised for their studies and ongoing learning.

Presenting two Plenary Health ICU nursing scholarships valued at $10,000, Chair of the New Footscray Hospital Project, Kelvyn Lavelle congratulated the graduate nurses on their achievements.

'Congratulations to Mawite and Axel on their commitment to their continued nursing studies, developing their knowledge and providing best care for their patients.'

During the five-year construction phase of the new hospital, Plenary Health will award $50,000 in ICU scholarships to Western Health nurses to support health outcomes in Melbourne’s west.

Now in its fourth year, the annual scholarships are part of Plenary Health’s partnership with the Western Health Foundation during the delivery of the new Footscray Hospital.

Nursing scholarship recipient Axel D’emmerez de Charmony said: 'Beyond the incredible financial support, this scholarship represents recognition of my dedication to becoming a critical care nurse and a vote of confidence in my ability to excel in this demanding field. It frees me to focus on studies, gaining deeper knowledge and hands-on experience to become a highly skilled critical care nurse.'

Congratulations to all Western Health nursing award recipients.

Hundreds of people braved the rain for WalkWest, hosted by the Western Health Foundation, on Sunday 7 April. Plenary Health and Multiplex entered teams and sponsored the event, more than $145,000 toward the purchase of two extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines for Western Health.

The 2024/25 Victorian Budget is investing more than $1.7 billion for health infrastructure projects across the state.

This includes more than $1.6 billion in upgrades and expansions for Austin Hospital, Northern Hospital and Monash Medical Centre.

The Engineering Infrastructure Replacement Program will receive $40 million over two years and $35 million will be invested in Victoria’s Medical Equipment Replacement Program.

The Mental Health Capital Renewal Fund will also deliver $10 million in priority infrastructure upgrades for mental health services.

Read about the funded projects

Latrobe Regional Hospital expansion now complete

The $223.5 million stage of the Latrobe Regional Hospital expansion in Traralgon is now complete.

The multi-stage project has increased capacity and services at the hospital. Now Gippsland families will have the world-class care they need, closer to home.

See our latest project updates and milestones:

• Frankston Hospital redevelopment: passes halfway
• Ballarat Early Parenting Centre: construction complete
• Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital: complete
• Kingston Centre residential aged care facility: reaches maximum height
• Heidelberg youth mental health centre: construction starts

We encourage suppliers to register on Buying for Victoria (tenders.vic.gov.au) and the Industry Capability Network to view VHBA offers to supply.

Find out more about VHBA procurement.

What we are doing to improve

The Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) supports hospitals to save energy and water. Saving energy and water benefits the environment and reduces costs.

For new buildings, VHBA's sustainability guidelines set a NABERS 5-star design target and minimum standards. They also allocate a proportion of the budget for sustainability. Sustainability initiatives supported include:

• building airtightness
• building controls
• solar power
• water-efficient fixtures
• water capture and reuse.

In existing hospitals, VHBA is investing $40 million in energy efficiency and solar. To date, VHBA investment has delivered some $1.2 million annual savings and avoided around 5,500 tonnes of greenhouse gases. The program has also supported energy audits at 43 health services, with initiatives being implemented.

Leading the way in sustainability

The Victorian Government has committed to net zero by 2045. Public buildings play a large part in this. By publishing ratings, we are transparent about the environmental performance of public hospitals. The ratings are also an incentive to improve performance over time.

In 2022-23, Victorian public hospitals spent $170 million on energy and water. An improvement of 1 per cent could deliver $1.7 million in savings and free up funding for other things.

The rating mirrors the efforts of VHBA's energy efficiency and solar program. Providing health services with solar improves their energy ratings. It also helps them reach their sustainability goals.

Read more about Victoria's NABERS Public Hospitals ratings for 2022-23.

You can learn more about our environmental initiatives on our dedicated environmental sustainability page.

The construction site is a hive of activity, with more than 450 workers on site each day.

Work has now started to pour the ninth floor of the main tower and the installation of internal services has started on the lower levels.

Frankston Hospital staff are already able to enjoy some of the benefits of the redevelopment, with teams moving into new administrative spaces which were upgraded as part of the emergency department refurbishment and expansion. These works will now focus on construction of a new emergency short stay unit and a new emergency department entrance.

Construction progress:

• level eight of the main tower structure completed and level nine underway
• internal structural works and services installation underway in basement, level one, level two, and level three (main tower)
• structural works on the multi-deck carpark completed
• multi-deck carpark façade installation underway.

Take a look on-site

Coming up:

• hospital tower structural works will continue
• internal services, blockwork and partition work will continue in the main tower
• structural steel and roofing will be built for the emergency department's new entry
• main tower facade panels will start arriving on-site for installation
• completion of kerbs, footpaths and asphalt to the southern service road
• sewer boring works in Beauty Park will be completed.

A guide to your new hospital

Your new hospital has been designed with functionality in mind to ensure optimal flow and efficiency for staff, patients and visitors.

The design offers connections between the new hospital building and the existing, on levels one through to four.

View the full Frankston Hospital redevelopment tower illustration here.

Please note: These images are for illustrative purposes only. Actual location of service may differ.