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

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

A Connectivity Centre is being established in partnership with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, Victoria University Polytechnic and other TAFE providers to respond to the unique needs and priorities of the local community, and to help support training and employment opportunities on the project.

It will provide a single point of contact and coordination, connecting disadvantaged cohorts in the project catchment to employment opportunities, pathways to employment, workplace training, job placement and wrap-around support services.

It will also provide 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 derive social value.