THE good news is that Stage Two of the Wonthaggi hospital “delivering additional capacity and a new birthing complex for families on the Bass Coast” gets several mentions in the State Budget.
It is listed in the ‘Hospital Infrastructure Delivery Program’ section of the Department of Health project together with plans for a new West Gippsland hospital, redevelopment of the Dandenong Hospital and redevelopment and expansion of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.
“The Government is continuing project planning for upgrades to the Dandenong Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, the Wonthaggi Hospital, and the new West Gippsland Hospital through the Health Infrastructure Delivery Fund, which was established in the 2023-24 Budget. This is in addition to the biggest hospital infrastructure project in Australia’s history announced in 2022, with upgrades to the Royal Melbourne and the Royal Women’s Hospitals.”
The sobering news is that we still don’t have a date for the start to Stage 2 works, and the ‘Hospital Infrastructure Delivery Fund’ (statewide) which amounted to $320 million across six projects statewide in the 2023 budget has been whittled down to a total of $115.553 million after three initiatives were funded.
“The Total Estimated Investment has decreased by $204.447 million due to separate reporting of ‘Austin Hospital Emergency Department Upgrade (Heidelberg)’, ‘Monash Medical Centre Redevelopment (Clayton)’ and ‘Northern Hospital Redevelopment (Epping)’ in the 2024-25 Budget as these initiatives are now funded for construction. This initiative is part of Labor’s Financial Statement 2022.”
It has been noted in the 2024-25 Budget, handed down on Tuesday, May 7 that the $115.5 million delivery fund will be exhausted by second quarter 2026-27 although the former premier promised that Stage 2 of the Wonthaggi hospital would be completed in 2027.
Here is the pre-election promise the former premier Daniel Andrews made on September 20, 2022, during a visit to the newly completed Stage 1:
“If we are re-elected in November, a re-elected Labor Government will fund up to $290m to fully complete the second stage of this hospital.”
