Photo: The Age

Minister for Health Jill Hennessy today joined Member for Broadmeadows Frank McGuire to officially open the $17.3 million redevelopment that includes a first class and bigger elective surgery centre.

The Broadmeadows Hospital redevelopment has doubled the service’s number of operating theatres. It features two new larger theatres, taking the total number of full-size theatres to four.

This means more patients will get their surgeries quicker, and closer to home, with the new surgery centre giving Northern Health the capacity to perform more than 2,500 extra procedures every year.

Other upgrades included the relocation of the existing endoscopy suite, expansion of the Central Sterile Service Department and storage facilities, a makeover of the patient reception and recovery facilities and expansion of the pharmacy, radiology and pathology collection services.

The Labor Government’s Victorian Budget 2017/18 includes $428.5 million for new hospital upgrades and equipment, including $162.7 million to expand the Northern Hospital to meet the health care needs of Melbourne’s growing outer northern suburbs.

In 2017/18, Northern Health will receive an increase of 11.8 per cent in funding from the previous year. The latest performance data shows the Government’s investment is making a real difference, with the Northern Hospital reducing the number of patients waiting for elective surgery from 1,935 to 848 over the past year.

At Broadmeadows Hospital the number of patients on the elective surgery waiting list has fallen from 610 to 485. The median time to treatment for all elective surgery patients also decreased from 65 to 25 days.

Broadmeadows Hospital provided operations for 100 per cent of all elective surgery patients within the benchmark times in the June quarter, well above the state average of 90 per cent.