A NEW hospital which will benefit growing families in Casey and Cardinia is well on its way to opening in July 2017.
St John of God Berwick Hospital and Generation Healthcare REIT are building a new $120 million hospital redevelopment on Kangan Drive, opposite Monash Health’s Casey Hospital in Berwick.
In addition to the $120 million hospital building itself, St John of God Health Care will be investing in new state of the art equipment, furnishings, commissioning the new facilities, plus undertaking a significant upgrade of the facilities in Gibb Street, bringing the total project forecast cost to $150 million.
All existing services provided by SJGBH at its historical Gibb Street site will be relocated to the new hospital and a significantly expanded number and range of services will be available, taking local health services in the area to a new level.
SJGBH CEO Lisa Norman said it was an important milestone for the communities of Casey and Cardinia which form one of the most rapidly growing regions in Australia.
“It will provide more than 190 new beds, six operating theatres, two endoscopy theatres, a cardiac/vascular catheter laboratory, six birthing suites and approximately 350 basement car parks. It will also provide the first Intensive Care Unit for the region and a comprehensive range of cardiac services, including a dedicated cardiac unit,” she said.
“We recently opened a new day oncology unit on the new Kangan Drive site and the new hospital will offer additional cancer services and complete our vision to provide a complete range of oncology care to improve cancer survival through improved diagnosis and treatment options to the people of this community.”
Other St John of God Health Care services such as St John of God Pathology and St John of God Health Choices, a home nursing service, will also be expanded.
The new hospital development forms part of a three stage project. Stage one was recently completed earlier this year with the opening of a $20.4 million specialist centre at the site, including a day oncology clinic operated by SJGBH.
Future plans have been developed for a third building that will take the site capacity to 316 beds and 12 operating theatres.
St John of God Berwick Hospital currently employs over 400 staff and a further 200 jobs are expected to be created. Currently, nearly 400 visiting doctors cover a wide range of medical and surgical disciplines, and an additional 100 are expected to be required to administer the new and expanded services.
Ms Norman said the additional jobs would be a positive opportunity for people living in Casey and Cardinia to work for a ‘values based’ organisation close to home.
The construction is still subject to a number of final approvals, including town planning plus successful completion of the building tender process, with construction expected to commence prior to the end this year.
