Footscray Hospital

Plenary Health is delivering the single largest health infrastructure investment in the state of Victoria, the $1.5 billion new Footscray Hospital.

The new hospital will provide more inpatient, outpatient, mental health, palliative care and surgical services, allowing the treatment of almost 15,000 additional patients and allow around 20,000 extra people to be seen by the emergency department each year.

The project will deliver 504 inpatient beds including 224 multi-day beds, 96 subacute, 54 critical care, 50 mental health, 36 same-day, 24 emergency department, and 15 drug and alcohol beds.

It will support and promote Western Health’s work to improve health outcomes, including in areas such as chronic disease management.

It will also include acute facilities including mental health treatment spaces, specialists facilities including operational procedural spaces, clinical support services including medical imaging and pathology, and teaching and training spaces.

Design features

The design of the new Footscray Hospital has been carefully considered to create a welcoming atmosphere and features a large, open green space and services such as childcare, gymnasium, pharmacy, general practice and cafes.

The hospital’s exteriors, green spaces and street entries have been carefully considered to create a welcoming atmosphere for patients and families. Some of the key features include a central ‘Village Green’ green space and rooftop spaces with views over Footscray Park.

The hospital will be a community asset and include facilities such as childcare, gymnasium, pharmacy, general practice and cafes. A supermarket, office space and community health facilities have also been incorporated.

Pandemic-prepared

The design of the hospital has been adopted to respond to lessons learned by Western Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• Designating expansion areas for critical care services
• Designing some inpatient unit wards to operate in pandemic mode, providing increased capacity to treat infectious patients
• Designing the emergency department to ensure it can continue to operate safely and efficiently during a pandemic; and
• Provision of an ambulatory clinic area that can operate as a pandemic clinic

Community impacts

Public art is a core part of the hospital’s overall design approach to help deliver an improvement in health and wellness.

Footscray Community Arts was appointed the official arts partner of the Plenary Group-led Plenary Health consortium delivering the project.

Melbourne artists Olana Janfa, Jarra Karalinar Steel and Nick Athanasiou were appointed to create artworks for the new Footscray Hospital precinct, part of a unique series of artworks across the New Footscray Hospital Project.

These works will complement a 10-metre tapestry – currently being woven by the Australian Tapestry Workshop – displayed in the hospital’s main entrance, designed by Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) and Mitch Mahoney (Boonwurrung/Barkindji). 

The integrated artworks within the hospital will be calming, restorative and immersive, playing an important role in providing hospital users with a sense of cultural safety. The works are also intended to optimise health outcomes by providing a positive environment and a connection to nature.

Plenary Health embarked on a five-year partnership with Western Health that is worth more than $300,000 and includes postgraduate nursing scholarships, research awards for Western Health staff, in-kind activities and monetary and other support for events.

Plenary Health also joined forces with The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation through a five-year partnership supporting the foundation’s Youth Leadership Project and has partnered with leading youth non-profit The Youth Junction Inc. to help more young people understand risks, choices and consequences associated with unsafe and risky behaviour. 

Plenary Health also completed its first ‘Get to Know Your Hospital Program’, partnering with the Footscray Learning Precinct (FLP) to engage with and involve local schools in the new Footscray Hospital Project.

Sustainability

Opportunities to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption have been incorporated in every stage of the design.

The hospital is being built to achieve 5 Star Green Star rating, incorporating such initiatives as the capacity to collect and reuse 90 per cent of roof rainwater.

It has also been designed to enable the future electrification of the hospital to support Victoria’s transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

Local economic impacts

The project will employ more than 2,000 people during peak construction and will be built using more than 90 per cent of materials, services and equipment sourced from local businesses.

Once operational it is expected to create an additional 250 new jobs and attract additional services and investment to the area.

1.8% of the design and construction will be delivered through purchasing from Victorian Aboriginal businesses, Australian Disability Enterprises and social enterprises to provide opportunities for disadvantaged Victorians.

Connectivity centre

The Footscray Connectivity Centre was established to respond to the unique needs and priorities of the local community and helped support training and employment opportunities on the New Footscray Hospital Project.

The centre connected disadvantaged cohorts in the project catchment to employment opportunities, pathways to employment, workplace training, job placement, and wrap-around support services.

It also provided a one-stop training and support centre for small-to-medium enterprises and social enterprises, bringing together a network of providers to build capacity and competitiveness in the market, facilitate access to investment, and provide tangible support for the establishment and accelerated development of local businesses that derived social value.

The Footscray Connectivity Centre was a joint operation between Plenary Health, Multiplex, VU Polytechnic Skills and Jobs Centre, and Apprenticeships Victoria, a partnership between the Victorian Government, major projects employers, and the TAFE training system. Led by Apprenticeships Victoria, the NFH Jobs Hub was launched in 2021 and combined the Footscray Connectivity Centre and Victoria University’s Skills and Jobs Centre under one roof.

During the project’s construction phase, Footscray High School VCE and VCE Vocational Major students visited the new Footscray Hospital site to see firsthand the career opportunities available on a construction site and hear about the different pathways to get there.