A new helipad and 400 extra car parks, including spaces reserved for shift workers, will be added to the Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment in a $54 million expansion of the project.
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Works to double the size of the existing multi-deck car park will begin this year and will include relocating the existing helipad to the top of the new seven-storey multi-level tower, which is due for completion in 2027.
The new helipad will be able to accommodate larger helicopters and reduce noise and downdraft impacts on nearby residents.
"The expansion of the existing multi-deck car park will help address the car park shortage around the Ballarat Base Hospital," Grampians Health chief executive Dale Fraser said.
"The relocation of the helipad to the top of the main tower of our upgraded hospital will help future-proof the health needs of our community."
The helipad will also allow patients to be directly transferred to, or from, the new emergency department and operating theatres.
Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas visited the hospital, touring the recently completed diagnostics department, to announce the extra projects and funding.
The new diagnostics department is four times the size of the previous facility, reducing wait times for services including heart monitoring and pacemaker revision, brain monitoring, respiratory function testing and blood pressure monitoring.
Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said car parking had been an ongoing issue for staff and visitors.
Ms Addison, who was on the hospital's community consultative committee before being elected to parliament, was part of a study into parking in 2017.
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"For those nurses and people across the health service who work night shift, parking blocks away and walking in the dark wasn't in their best interest. It's not good occupational health and safety so for me this is a really important day where we show respect to health care workers and everyone who works in the hospital. There will be reserved car parking for shift workers, making it safer for them."
The car park construction is expected to be completed by mid-2024.
She also paid respect to local residents who first campaigned for a helipad to improve access for seriously ill patients.
"We have spoken to them throughout this process and they've been very passionate to make sure a new helipad is part of this building," Ms Addison said.
"We know ... that minutes matter whether it's people coming into hospital or being transferred out to specialist care in Melbourne. Having that helipad on our new building will make a difference."
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