By BRIDGET SCOTT
A BRAND-new facility proposed for St John of God will allow the hospital to expand its current services and deliver a new range of programs.
St John of God Health care (SJGHC) and Generation Healthcare REIT (GHC) entered a memorandum of understanding to explore the feasibility of building a new hospital on Kangan Drive, Berwick.
The hospital would be built next to the specialist unit and oncology centre which is currently under construction along Kangan Drive.
The new hospital would also be located opposite Monash Health’s Casey Hospital and would be hoped to open for patients in 2017, with building to start next year.
The new site would deliver all of the services currently provided at the hospital on Gibb Street, with these set to be relocated.
The current site on Gibb Street in Berwick would be transformed through a redevelopment program and deliver new services, including rehabilitation programs.
Chief Executive Officer of SJGHC Lisa Norman said the new site would also include new services such as cardiac, intensive care and enhanced cancer services
“This means that our community will have access to a comprehensive range of healthcare services close to home,” she said.
“In addition to the new hospital we are involved in a new facility currently under construction in Kangan Drive.”
It is expected that the new $120 million hospital would include 190 beds built over two stages, six general theatres, two endoscopy theatres, a cardiac/vascular catheter laboratory, six birthing suites and an estimated 350 basement car parks.
Ms Norman said the size of the new centre and its capacity would mean local residents could access enhanced medical assistance right in their own community.
“The range of services that will be offered by the health precinct means that people living in Casey and Cardinia will not have to travel out of their community for the majority of healthcare services,” she said.
Ms Norman added that “there are few communities that have access to this range of services.”
She said it would offer people from eastern Victoria such as Baw Baw, Bass Coast and Latrobe improved access to healthcare services.
The new centre will also invite a huge number of employment opportunities in the area.
“We anticipate that the growth would create an additional 106 full-time equivalent employment opportunities and attract over 100 new medical specialists,” Ms Norman said.
The new hospital would be jointly owned by SJGHC and GHC.
GHC Chief Executive Officer Miles Wentworth said this agreement was a fantastic opportunity.
“The announcement of a proposed partnership with SJGHC, Australia’s largest not-for-profit private health care group for stage two and three at Casey represents an exciting opportunity for GHC.”
“This combined with the pending completion of stage one, a $19 million cancer focused medical centre in January 2015, means that we are realising our vision for the site being to position the campus as the leading private healthcare precinct in one of Victoria’s largest and fastest growing local government areas.”
