Melbourne health services are sharing $40 million in funding from the latest round of the Metropolitan Health Infrastructure Fund.

The fund supports metropolitan health and community health services and Aboriginal health organisations to undertake vital upgrades to infrastructure and equipment.

In total, 29 projects across 27 health services have been funded.

Read about the funded projects

Regional Health Infrastructure Fund

More than $79.7 million for regional health infrastructure upgrades

New Early Parenting Centre for Casey

Parents and caregivers in Casey and surrounding communities can now access more specialised support to care for their little ones up to four years old.

This brand-new centre is the third Early Parenting Centre (EPC) to open its doors in Victoria in the past six months.

The centre includes:

• 10 residential family units
• four day stay places
• kitchen and dining areas
• playrooms
• outdoor play areas.

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment is a step closer with the central energy plant and support services CEPSS building reaching its maximum height.

This is a significant milestone for stage two of the massive $595 million redevelopment.

See our latest project updates and milestones:

• Barwon Women's and Children's: Builder appointed, Community survey report
• Warrnambool Base Hospital redevelopment: Builder appointed for next stage
• Westside Lodge dual diagnosis unit expansion: Completed
• Traralgon YPARC centre: Construction starts

Recently published:

• Casey Hospital Emergency Department Expansion Project - Work Packages

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.

The Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA), in partnership with Grampians Health.

‘It’s really exciting being involved in Ballarat’s biggest and one of the most highly anticipated infrastructure projects which will help futureproof healthcare in the Ballarat region for years to come,’ says Veronica Furnier-Tosco, Chief Redevelopment & Infrastructure Officer for Grampians Health.

‘It’s a privilege to be collaborating and working alongside some incredibly talented women to deliver the much-needed upgrades to our hospital. These new modern facilities will provide our communities with the best possible care, including care closer to home.’

At Grampians Health Ms Furnier-Tosco is working closely with Project Director Nicole Lancer and Communications Lead Renae Nolan. While women at all levels are driving VHBA’s contributions, including Executive Program Delivery Director Anna Marshall, Executive Project Director Danielle Parr, Project Manager Annelyse Carter, Project Manager Naziha Mohammed, Project Officer Sara Stone, and Project Officer Athira Moncy.

Builder John Holland is delivering stage two of the hospital redevelopment, with Site Supervisor Sam Sculley overseeing the construction site.

The commercial construction industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia.

It employs more than 1.3 million people across the country and offers more than 70 employment and career pathways ranging from architects and engineers to tilers and human resources. Despite this, according to the latest data from the Jobs and Skills Australia, women make up only 13% of workers in Australian construction.

The Victorian Government is committed to achieving gender equality in the workplace, including in the construction industry.

In June 2018, the Government announced it was developing Victoria’s Women in Construction Strategy, in partnership with the Building Industry Consultative Council.

While in December 2021, it launched an Australia-first Building Equality Policy to improve the percentage of female representation in construction roles.

The Victorian Government is investing $655 million to redevelop and expand the Ballarat Base Hospital.

The redevelopment will deliver a new emergency department, a women and children’s hub, state-of-the-art theatre suite and an extra 100 inpatient and short stay beds.

Once completed, the upgraded hospital will have the capacity to treat at least 18,000 more emergency patients and an extra 14,500 inpatients per year.

The redevelopment will be completed over multiple stages. Construction of the final stage is expected to be completed in 2027.

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

'Investing in women and advocating for gender equity sets an example'

Nhung Vo

Nhung is a Senior Project Manager in the Metropolitan Health Infrastructure Fund (MHIF) team. Her role involves using her construction background and project management skills to oversee and provide governance to metropolitan, community and Aboriginal health infrastructure projects.

What drew you to work in health infrastructure?

I was drawn to health infrastructure because of the niche and complex nature of these projects. It also feels rewarding to be involved in work that ultimately helps the sick and vulnerable people in our community.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you? Why is it important that we continue to invest in women and gender equity?

It’s a day to recognise the women in my life for the work that they do – at work, at home and in the community. It’s an opportunity to celebrate their feminine, unique and colourful existence. It is important that we continue to invest in women and gender equity because women have unique gifts to bring to the table, and these gifts need to be recognised and compensated.

When women are empowered, they will flourish and thrive in whatever they do. That comes back to benefit society whether that is in a social, economic or environmental sense. I feel lucky that throughout my career, I have met managers who listened and paid attention to what my strengths are. They invested in me by believing in my capabilities and giving me not only autonomy, but roles and salaries to grow into. Their support allowed me to experience what flourishing and thriving looks like!

What career opportunities would you like to see for women?

I would like to see opportunities, whether big or small and at all levels of management, that involve decision making and influence, and that pay well.

What is your advice to women who are interested in working in health infrastructure?

Just go for it. It's a saturated industry with lots of opportunities and lots to learn. The skills that you pick up are very transferrable.

'Women are smart, capable, dedicated and driven'

Sarah Skeels

Sarah recently joined VHBA as Principal Project Manager of the Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) Program.

Her role involves managing the $141 million expansion of YPARC services across Victoria, an investment by the Victorian Government that is improving the mental health of young people.

What drew you to work in health infrastructure?

It was the huge variety in size, scale and type of projects that you can work on. There is such an exciting portfolio of projects on the go at the moment, with interesting opportunities expected over the next few years.

What does International Women's Day mean to you? Why is it important that we continue to invest in women and gender equity?

For me, it's an opportunity to reflect and recognise the achievements, big or small, of fellow women in a traditionally male-dominated construction industry. It provides a platform to share experiences, both good and bad, and to explore the impacts of those experiences, to invite collaboration and discussion to drive improvement.

'Count Her In' promotes broadening the viewpoints in decision-making rooms to achieve better outcomes for everyone.

What career opportunities would you like to see for women?

Women are smart, capable, dedicated and driven enough to take on any career role in which they are interested; in exactly the same way that men are. What I would like to see is the stigma of a 'diversity hire' being removed from women who may be the first of, or are the minority, in a role and instead recognise the skills and attributes of the successful applicant.

I would like to see skill and talent celebrated, and not the negative undertones of having achieved because of a notion of needing token female representation. This stigma placed on women is the failing of a system which has historically had inadequate representation of the general population which is made up of different genders, and an array of cultures and differing beliefs.

What is your advice to women who are interested in working in health infrastructure?

Just jump in! Health infrastructure provides such a versatile portfolio of work, that addresses the health needs of all ages and abilities, from planning, design and construction, that you are sure to find a project that you love working on.

'Work remains to be done to achieve inclusivity'

Valentina Vitali

Valentina recently joined VHBA as a Senior Project Manager for the Austin Emergency Department Stabilisation Project.

She is responsible for ensuring health facilities are built on time, on budget and to the highest standard.

What drew you to work in health infrastructure?

I have always been fascinated by architecture and construction. There is something almost magical about translating a sketch into a real building! And I believe how we do this can make a real difference in people's lives.

Working in health infrastructure offers me a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the communities and their wellbeing. Understanding the needs of different cultural groups as well as how the health force is operating, developing new ways to efficiently support everyone, and building a facility where everyone can feel comfortable is something challenging and exciting at the same time, and I feel very lucky to be part of it!

What does International Women's Day mean to you? Why is it important that we continue to invest in women and gender equity?

It's a day to celebrate gender diversity and women's achievements and opportunities. It's also a reminder of the barriers that can be experienced by women, and the work that remains to be done to achieve inclusivity.

In my career in Australia, I had the luck of crossing paths with some very passionate and knowledgeable women, who inspired me and pushed me to do better in every sphere of life. Their ability to drive different teams and lead by example, be strong and supportive, not only positively impacts my work and my wellbeing but also makes me believe I can get better in what I do and become who I want in life.

I really would like all young women starting their careers now to have the same luck I had. This can be achieved by giving more exposure to women in leadership and investing in new and already existing mentoring projects for women in construction. Through this, we can create a network where women can find support and encouragement.

What career opportunities would you like to see for women?

I strongly believe gender equality should be applied in every job. Career progression should be simply driven by skills and not gender.

Currently, the health infrastructure industry has an amazing group of men and women who work collaboratively for the same objectives. It would be great to see this everywhere.

What is your advice to women who are interested in working in health infrastructure?

My best advice is to be who you are, be committed, and focus on your goals.

Work with us

Are you passionate about public health and interested in a career in health infrastructure? If so, we want to hear from you.

VHBA is responsible for the planning, delivery and oversight of Victoria’s public health infrastructure.

Our work includes:

• managing the planning and delivery of new health infrastructure projects, including public hospitals, community health services, residential aged care, mental health facilities and ambulance branches
• community and stakeholder engagement
• developing best practice guidelines for managing health infrastructure
• upgrading and managing state-wide medical and engineering equipment.

Find out more about working at VHBA and explore our current opportunities on the Careers.Vic website.

What does your role involve?

I've been with VHBA and its previous incarnation for six years. It’s a time of enormous growth in the size of our program and in the capacity of the organisation in terms of the direct project management responsibilities that we've taken on.

The process of managing projects is similar in a lot of industries. In the health space, there's a lot of complexity for scoping the projects and the design outcomes because every health facility is different.
There are standards to be applied across key areas in the health sector, but there's always going to be a need for unique designs that respond to the requirements of the site, consumers, and the health service.

This includes local and regional factors, but also different staffing profiles and models of care across health services influencing design, and then project delivery aspects that need to be considered on top of that. Every day is a new day with various types of challenges.

How do projects come together?

Projects are delivered in phases, so you are generally focused on a specific range of outcomes at a time. Whether that’s briefing and consultant engagement activities, early project initiation activities, or working through the design stage with the architects and the design team and the health services.

There is also preparing for the construction process and the construction phase on site where the project is being delivered and we're working to support the health services in managing the disruption of the construction activities. So, lots of different elements to the role.

These are enhanced if you're working across multiple projects that are working on different time frames, but that also provides you the opportunity to translate or impart some of the lessons that you're learning on one project onto another.

What makes a good project manager?

In project management, we're always trying to improve the process to make the next one better.

You don't have to have a design or construction background. Your focus is on building and developing the team. You need to identify the resources that you require to help deliver the project, and they provide the specialist technical input. Also, there's a lot of engaging with service providers.

Really, it's about communication. In an office or on-site, understanding what the issues are and working with the subject matter experts in developing the right solutions that meet the needs of all the stakeholders involved, and making sure that the right people have the right information at the right time.

I like the early planning stages because that's I think where you've got the most opportunity to influence how the project’s delivered, and what the outcomes might be. 

It's where you look at risks in the project and some of those decisions are made at that time really will determine how well those risks are managed.

What are you working on?

The program that we're working on now is the Pathway to 144 Mental Health Beds (Mental Health Beds Expansion Program). The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System set some ambitious time frames for the delivery of new acute mental health facilities, and we've been able to meet those to date. This program is a significant investment in the mental health sector, delivering new facilities at the McKellar Centre, in Geelong, Northern Hospital, Sunshine Hospital and the Royal Melbourne Hospital sites.

We’re proud to say the Northern Hospital mental health facility, designed by NTC Architects and NH Architecture, was shortlisted for the prestigious 2023 Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Public Architecture award. And the McKellar Centre in Geelong, designed by NTC Architects and BG Architecture, was shortlisted for the Interior Architecture award.

We used modular construction on three of the four Mental Health Beds Expansion Program sites, which was quite an innovative solution, and we've learnt a lot from that process. Lots of challenges but also lots of learnings, bringing in efficiencies into the design process and looking at what opportunities there are to build components of buildings off-site.

We are reviewing what worked well, and some of those areas that we could look to improve on, to make this an even better project as we look to expand the program regionally.

Why health infrastructure?

These days, we’re more mobile and have opportunities to work more effectively on-site. We’re a lot more directly involved in how we’re delivering projects, learning a lot more and can do some interesting and ambitious things because of the capacity we’ve now got within our team. The direct contribution you can make to the quality of life for Victorians is the bottom line.

Health infrastructure is as a critical component of a healthy society. We’ve got a great pipeline of projects coming and an excellent opportunity to directly influence some of those outcomes for some vulnerable areas of our community. The best thing for me working at VHBA is the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. All the public health infrastructure projects come through our office.

There are so many diverse areas in healthcare to deliver innovative and industry-leading services.

How are the end users having a say?

With the new acute mental health beds in Victoria, we are setting a new benchmark for mental health infrastructure. We’re working with service providers to understand what they need, but then also working with consumers and people with lived experience.

The people investing time in understanding the real requirements of those who use the services on a daily basis provides us a new insight into what it is that these facilities need to be and what they need to do.

Co-design is providing a better understanding of the more detailed requirements of what is important to people who use these facilities. There’s an enormous knowledge base in health services and how they operate, and this adds a further perspective on top of that.

Sometimes it can be just the type of colours or fabrics that are used in an area. Or providing a laundry for consumer use, exercise areas for physical activity, or spiritual rooms that consumers can use for quiet reflection. Simple solutions can make a fundamental difference to the experience of the people who are there receiving the services.

Learn more about the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program.

About the project

The Victorian Government has committed more than $500 million to deliver new and expanded women’s and children’s facilities in Geelong.

The new Barwon Women’s and Children’s will provide world-class women’s health (including maternity) and paediatric services and deliver additional capacity to ensure families in Geelong and surrounding communities can continue to access the very best care, close to home.

Managed by Barwon Health, the new Barwon Women’s and Children’s will be built within the University Hospital Geelong precinct. It will provide:

• more maternity inpatient beds
• more paediatric multi-day/same day inpatient beds
• more special care nursery cots
• more birthing suites
• more operating theatres
• expanded paediatric and maternity specialist (outpatient) facilities.

The community’s influence

The survey has sought and considered input on key areas of the design of the Barwon Women’s and Children’s including patient and family experience, indoor and outdoor spaces, accessibility and wayfinding.

The input captured in this report will be shared with the project team with the opportunity for feedback to be reflected in the final design of the Barwon Women’s and Children’s.

How we engaged

The VHBA led a community survey on the Engage Victoria portal from 24 October to 24 November 2023, to seek community input on what they would like to see in key areas of the new Barwon Women’s and Children’s.

The survey was published online via Engage Victoria and was promoted across the VHBA and Barwon Health social media channels, and shared with community and stakeholder groups via the Community Consultative Committee.

There were 422 survey submissions received.

What we heard

Participants were asked about their ideas and priorities around the themes of accessibility, welcoming space, family friendly spaces, artwork and spaces.

Accessibility

Respondents indicated a preference for:

• access to bike parking in obvious and safe areas
• close by, well-lit, free carparking
• proximity to public transport
• transportation options to and from appointments
• taxi rank, drop off pick up zone close to the entrance.

Welcoming space

Respondents indicated a preference for:

• clear wayfinding signage in multiple languages
• ample food and drink options
• reception/check-in to provide wayfinding information
• LGBTQIA+ representation and inclusive signage
• consideration of different cultural needs such as prayer rooms
• access to all gender bathrooms.

Family friendly spaces

Respondents indicated a preference for:

• quiet and private spaces in waiting areas
• fun, interactive play areas for children including fish tanks
• breastfeeding areas with comfortable chairs and spaces to clean and store pumping equipment
• sensory spaces for neurodiverse children
• pet-friendly areas for service animals and for family pets to be able to visit
• access to power points and charging stations.

Artwork

Respondents indicated a preference for:

• works created by locals or First Nations artists
• areas for showcasing children's/inpatients art on rotation
• imagery/art representative of Geelong community and local scenery
• interactive art that children can contribute to.

Landscaping

Respondents indicated a preference for:

• lush, calming, green plants
• shade for hot days and weather protection from rain
• soothing water features.

Next steps

Input from the community obtained via the survey has provided the Barwon Women’s and Children’s project team with:

• a clearer understanding of the priorities for Geelong and surrounding communities
• ideas and a vision for key spaces and areas in new Barwon Women’s and Children’s
• the issues and concerns that matter to seeking safe and accessible healthcare in Geelong and surrounding communities.

The project is currently in the design phase, and the ideas and priorities captured in the survey – together with the input gathered through other consultation forums – will be considered when developing the final design of the new Barwon Women’s and Children’s.

Find out more

• Learn more about the new Barwon Women's and Children's by visiting our dedicated project page.
• You can also receive updates about the project by joining our mailing list. Join by emailing our project team.