Come along to our community pop-up in the Target Centre to learn more about the $384.2 million Warrnambool Base Hospital redevelopment.

We want to hear from you about what’s important to you and your family to help us shape key family and outdoor spaces in the redeveloped hospital.

Team members from the Victorian Health Building Authority and South West Healthcare will be available to answer your questions about the redevelopment and to support you to complete our community survey.

There will also be colouring in sheets on hand for the kids!

The Victorian Government is investing $384.2 million to deliver the Warrnambool Base Hospital redevelopment.

A new multi-storey hospital tower will deliver a bigger emergency department, more operating theatres, an extra 22 inpatient beds and dedicated areas for pathology services and dialysis.

With more families choosing to make Warrnambool home, a dedicated paediatric unit will provide specialised care to children and young people.

A new offsite Regional Logistics Distribution Centre (RLDC) will also provide goods, equipment and linen services to the hospital as well as other public health services in the region.

The redevelopment will transform services at the hospital, giving Victoria's south west community access to world-class healthcare facilities close to home.

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

The Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) is responsible for the planning and delivery of the Victorian Government’s multi-billion-dollar health infrastructure program. What are we doing to ensure what we are building now will be sustainable and climate resilient?

‘Hospitals are energy intensive due to the nature of services they provide, and the amount of floor space that is heated and cooled to tightly controlled temperatures. In 2021-22 we used some 5.6 petajoules of energy, with a rough 50-50 split for electricity and gas. On average 1.4 gigajoules of energy per square metre, or about 220 kilograms of carbon per square metre.

Due to the age of many public hospitals in Victoria, there are significant energy efficiency opportunities. In the past five to six years we have invested some $30 million in energy efficiency and solar, and there is plenty more investment to come.

Some of the things we are doing in the capital works space include:

• specification of what we expect to see as business as usual on all projects
• allocation of 2.5 per cent of the total construction cost to invest in sustainability initiatives above standard practice
• setting design targets of at least five-stars under Victoria’s National Australian Built Environment Rating Scheme (NABERS) for all new public hospitals and major expansions
• requiring air tightness testing on our buildings
• increased focus on electrification
• employing sustainability consultants on all our projects.

An example is the $7 million energy performance contract at Peninsula Health where we installed over 4,500 LED lights, replaced ageing steam infrastructure, installed efficient plant, and upgraded building controls. This reduced carbon by over 20 per cent and paid for itself in five years.'

Electrification

‘Electrification is a big focus for us and a major way we are designing and building sustainable facilities with NABERS design targets being a real game changer. Building a hospital to five-star all-electric would use around 10 gigawatt hours of electricity a year. If it was built to three-star, the average performance of electricity use would double to over 21 gigawatt hours.

In addition, we already require all our health facilities below 10,000 square meters to be all-electric and are doing this for ambulance stations, early parenting centres and other community health facilities.

We are also beginning to see all-electric options as part of the plans for our new major hospitals. The $900 million new Melton Hospital will be Victoria’s first all-electric hospital. This project was, I like to think, the catalyst for the new policy in Victoria’s gas substitution roadmap for government business cases for new public infrastructure required to include an all-electric option!

This really supports the Victorian Government’s commitment for all electricity used by publicly funded operations, including public hospitals, to be from 100 per cent renewable sources from 2025.

And there’s also solar, which is a real opportunity in our new and existing buildings. We now have 149 arrays installed with a capacity of 12 megawatt-peak, and a further 44 arrays with a capacity of nearly 4 megawatt-peak funded and being installed. This means that more of our hospitals are generating some of their own electricity, rather than sourcing it from the grid.'

Data

Having good environmental data must be key to managing the performance of assets. Can you tell us about what data you collect and how you use it to drive environmental performance?

‘Good data is essential – it’s a cliché but it’s true – you can’t manage what you don’t measure. The availability of data has increased significantly over the last 10 years. I remember asking suppliers for electronic data when I first started and being emailed a PDF copy of the bill!

Now the issue is having too much data and being able to manage it - we collect data from 1,500  electricity meters, 700 gas meters, 1,400 water meters and generation data from over 150 solar arrays. And while this is all valuable, data is only as good as how you use it.

We use data for:

• building the business case for investment 
• completing annual energy and water NABERS ratings for our 140 hospitals
• informing benchmarks for our capital works program
• reporting internally on key metrics such as energy intensity, carbon emissions and cost
• reporting publicly on our performance through our annual report.

If you’re collecting and using data, here are a few of my data rules:

• if you ask someone to give you data, offer insights from that data in return
• see data for the value it provides, not for the cost of collecting it
• collect the level of data you need – too much data can be overwhelming if you don’t have the resources or systems to manage it
• source electronic data direct from your suppliers – reduce manual entry effort and errors as much as you can
• manage data throughout the year, not the week before you need to do your reporting.’

Learn more about our guidelines for sustainability in capital works, all-electric new Melton Hospital, Peninsula Health energy performance contract and regional health solar program.

Located in the heart of Footscray, the NFH Jobs Hub, in partnership with the Connectivity Centre, continues to support the west through connecting the local community to jobs, apprenticeships and training opportunities both on the new hospital site and at Victoria University Polytechnic.

Since the centre opened its doors in November 2021, there have been almost 600 visitors. Drop-in sessions are held every Tuesday 10.00 am - 12.00 pm to assist students and job seekers interested in working on the new Footscray Hospital. Job readiness information sessions are also held on a weekly basis.

A number of community events have also been hosted at the centre including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre – Women’s Empowerment Program, International Women’s Day and Cultural Diversity Week.

The centre has established and maintained relationships with close to 100 community partners. Through this engagement, 28 local job seekers identifying as disabled, Indigenous or from a disadvantaged background have been referred to employment opportunities on the New Footscray Hospital Project. A further 45 people have been placed into job ready programs, employment support services, education and training opportunities as a pathway to working on the project.

The Connectivity Centre and NFH Jobs Hub are located at 138 Nicholson Street, Footscray.

If you are interested in employment and training opportunities at the new Footscray Hospital email footscray@theconnectivitycentre.com.au.

Victoria University’s Picturing Footscray photography prize is a free open-entry competition that focuses on Melbourne’s unique inner-west suburb of Footscray.

After two years of holding Picturing Footscray virtually, 2022 will see the return of a physical exhibition held at the Connectivity Centre in the NFH Jobs Hub from 13 October - 11 November 2022.

The Plenary Health consortium, delivering the new Footscray Hospital in partnership with the Victorian Government and Western Health, is proud to sponsor first prize. The Connectivity Centre is sponsoring this year’s People’s Choice Award.

Contact the project hotline at (03) 9999 1985 or email nfhenquiry@health.vic.gov.au.

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Email your idea to nfhenquiry@health.vic.gov.au.

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Partnerships

This project is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority in partnership with Western Health, and the Plenary Health consortium.

About the project

The Victorian Government is investing $100 million to redevelop and expand Maryborough and District Hospital.

The state-of-the-art redevelopment will deliver a new urgent care centre, a 32-bed inpatient unit inclusive of two new birthing suites, two operating theatres and recovery spaces, and a day medical centre with imaging, renal, chemotherapy and pathology services.

When complete, the team at Maryborough and District Hospital will be able to treat an additional 4,000 patients every year.

Construction on the hospital expansion will start in early 2023 and be completed in late 2024.

Community engagement

The primary objectives for engagement were to:

• provide an opportunity for community members to have their say and help shape key areas of redevelopment
• better understand impacts on the community and any concerns relating to the redevelopment
• raise awareness of the redevelopment and what it means for the community.

The community’s influence

The survey has sought and considered feedback on what the community would like to see in the hospital’s communal waiting area, outdoor and terrace spaces, including artwork, plants and interactive activities.

The input captured in this report has been shared with the project team with the opportunity for feedback to be reflected in the final design of the redevelopment.

How we engaged

The VHBA led a community survey on the Engage Victoria portal from 17 June to 15 July 2022, to seek community input on what they would like to see in the hospital’s communal waiting areas, and outdoor and terrace spaces, including artwork, plants and interactive activities.

The survey was published online on the Engage Victoria website and hard copies were also available from the hospital. It was promoted in local media and on social media.

The VHBA received 127 survey submissions.

What we heard

Carparking

• Carparking is a challenge when attending a hospital or health facility
• Need more hospital carparking spaces.

Welcoming space

Preference for:

• greenery and plants throughout patient spaces
• modern interior and warm external and internal lighting to create a non-clinical environment.
• natural light.
• seating and benches in private and quiet spaces
• good coffee and food
• access to free WIFI and phone charging stations in common areas
• more privacy at check-in areas.

Accessibility

Preference for:

• good access via public transport and bike racks
• clearly defined entry and exit points
• clear, easy-to-understand wayfinding signage
• carparking with easy access and drop off zones
• dedicated places to park mobility scooters close to doors
• ease of access to outdoors for women, families and wheelchairs.

Family-friendly spaces

Preference for:

• adequate space and changing facilities for parents in toilets
• parent’s and family lounges
• separate children’s play areas
• child-friendly spaces.

Artwork

Preference for:

• works created for indoors and outdoors by local Goldfield’s artists or First Nations Artists are highly desirable
• public art and historical photos of the district which reflect the heritage of the area
• signage and spaces to welcome LGBTIQ+ patients, their friends and family.

Landscape

Preference for:

• trees and plants indoors and outdoors
• integration of the physical building into the natural environment
• comfortable seating and bench options in the common outdoor and terrace areas
• open spaces that provide the opportunity to connect with greenspace
• weather protected and shaded areas in the common outdoor and terrace areas.

Safety

• security measures at the hospital.

Input from the community has provided the Victorian Government with:

• a clearer understanding of the priorities for Maryborough and the surrounding communities
• ideas and a vision for key spaces and areas in the redeveloped hospital.
• the issues and concerns that matter to residents of Maryborough and the surrounding communities. 

More information

For more information on the Maryborough and District Hospital redevelopment, visit the Maryborough and District Hospital redevelopment project page or contact our project team at vhba@health.vic.gov.au.