VIC Government to deliver Australia's biggest hospital project

Thousands of jobs and better health care services are set to be delivered across Victoria as the State Government announces that it will build the biggest hospital project in Australia. 

The proposed development will include a significant upgrade to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Royal Women’s Hospital as well as the construction of a new Arden medical precinct, all connected by a brand-new train line. 

“These hospitals belong to us all – they care for some of the sickest and most seriously hurt patients and Victorians are rightly proud of them, but they’re outgrowing their current sites. 

“We’re starting the biggest health infrastructure project in our nation’s history, growing our healthcare workforce and giving workers more training and research opportunities than ever before – proving that good governments can do more than one thing at a time,” Premier Daniel Andrews said. 

This massive health infrastructure development will begin with an upgrade and expansion – valued between $5 and $6 billion – to deliver a total of over 1,800 beds and treatment spaces. 

The Victorian Government will make an initial $2 - $2.5 billion investment to get works started on the 12-year project that will establish a new medical precinct in the future suburb of Arden where new campuses of both the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Women’s Hospital will stand. 

The campuses at the future Arden health precinct will be a centre for elective surgery, outpatient treatment, clinical trials, rehabilitations and low-risk women’s healthcare services. On the other hand, the redeveloped facilities at Parkville will focus on emergency, trauma and acute care. 

The multi-billion-dollar development will provide a significant boost to the State’s health system capacity each year, including: 

• An additional 10,500 elective procedures, through eight new theatres at the Royal Melbourne Hospital Arden campus 
• Enabling 1,000 more patients to receive critical care across both campuses 
• Capacity for 2,500 more births at the Royal Women’s Hospital 

A new Home-Based Care Hub is going to be established as a centre for home care coordination between health services, hospitals and patients. This will ensure modern and convenient in-home care is delivered to Victorians. 

The initial investment from the State Government will get the ball rolling on the first stage of works to deliver the first hospital tower in the Arden precinct, which will include more than 400 beds and treatment spaces. 

Approximately 7,500 construction jobs are set to be created in the first stage and more than 12,500 across the supply chain. 

Rebuilding and expanding the existing facilities at Parkville will be part of the next stages of the project. 

This project will provide additional education and research space to ensure the hospitals continue training future healthcare workers to work at health services across Victoria. 

The redevelopment of the hospitals will support further collaboration with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute as well as other medical research partners in coming up with ways to better integrate teaching, training and research with patient care. 

The two precincts at Parkville and Arden are going to be linked by the Metro Tunnel. Both health precincts will have their own brand-new stations from 2025, providing a two-minute trip between hospital campuses and also connecting them to the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. 

The rail connections will make it easier for healthcare workers, patients and visitors from across Victoria to travel to each campus. 

The Parkville and Arden medical precincts will also be connected to other important health sites – including the Box Hill Hospital and the Austin Hospital – once the Suburban Rail Loop is completed. 

“Supporting a world-class health system is about more than building hospitals. We’re also investing in the transport infrastructure we need to make it easier for healthcare workers and patients alike to get where they need to go,” Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said. 

A $270 million healthcare workforce package is also going to be delivered to provide free degrees, training and upskilling for the next generation of nurses and midwives, taking advantage of the redeveloped facilities that have more training spaces to up-skill within the hospital system. 

Major construction on the proposed multi-billion-dollar health infrastructure development is set to begin in 2025, following the completion of the Metro Tunnel. The first stage of the project is due to be completed in 2031. 

Source: Premier of Victoria – Media Centre; 9 News; Inside Construction; Hospital Management