Today I joined the Minister for Health, Jill Hennessy, and other local MPs to kick start early construction works on the $162 million expansion at the Northern Hospital in Epping.

More patients in Melbourne’s north will soon have faster access to healthcare and surgery services thanks to this world class expansion. Once complete, the hospital will feature a new seven storey tower, an additional three operating theatres and 96 new inpatient beds. This means that the expanded hospital will be able to treat an extra 10,000 each year.

Early works will involve relocating the existing 18-bed intensive care unit on site and delivering expanded back office accommodation and a new loading dock alongside other support services. The Victorian Government is also planning for the future with extra space around the hospital earmarked for further expansion projects involving cardiology services, cath labs and medical imaging services.

As the population of the northern suburbs continues to grow, the healthcare services provided to our community need to grow as well. The Northern Hospital currently serves over 365,000 annually and this number is expected to grow to over 550,000 by 2031.

The staff at Northern Hospital provide excellent healthcare services to our community. That’s why the Victorian Government is doing everything it can to support our wonderful staff in continuing to provide safe, quality healthcare services to our community.

This $162 million investment is in addition to the $426.7 received by the Northern Hospital by the Victorian Government last year.

Construction at the hospital is due to be completed in 2021.