Tuesday, 12 August 2025

 Steve McGHIE (Melton) (12:48): Three weeks ago I had the pleasure of welcoming the Premier, the Minister for Health Infrastructure, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Mental Health to the new Melton hospital site to mark the official start of major construction. Over the next six months the site will be a hive of activity, with excavation, rock breaking, trenching for inground services, piling, retaining wall works, concrete footings and slabs being poured and the installation of the first crane tower, all forming the foundations of our new hospital. Located on a site more than three times the size of the MCG, the hospital has ample room to expand and will serve communities across Melton and the surrounding catchment. Led by Western Health, it will strengthen care across Melbourne’s west, complementing Sunshine and the new Footscray Hospital.

It was fantastic to meet members of the Victorian Health Building Authority and Lendlease teams, especially Lisa and Lucy, two outstanding women helping lead this project. Lisa, an experienced site manager with eight hospital builds behind her, and Lucy, a graduate site engineer, spoke with real pride about their work and the importance of delivering Victoria’s first fully electric hospital.

Once complete, the hospital will treat up to 130,000 patients a year and handle almost 60,000 ‍emergency department visits. It will also feature an ICU, mental health services, maternity and neonatal care, radiology, outpatient services and dedicated teaching, training and research spaces. Cobblebank is booming with this hospital, a new secondary school opening next year, a TAFE across the road and a level crossing free train station ready to connect locals to care. It is a great project for Melton.