The New South Wales and Victorian governments are working together to build a new emergency department and short stay unit at Albury Wodonga Health's Albury campus to meet the future health needs of the community.
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas joined NSW Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor and Member for Albury Justin Clancy today to turn the first sod on the $36 million project, marking the start of construction on the new emergency department.
Mrs Taylor said the strong relationship between the NSW and Victorian governments delivering the project will help ensure the Albury-Wodonga community receives the world-class healthcare it deserves close to home.
"We're here today to mark the beginning of construction on this important project which, once complete, will double the capacity of Albury Wodonga Health's emergency department," Mrs Taylor said.
"The new emergency department includes 42 treatment spaces, a specialised resuscitation hub, paediatric treatment area, acute treatment area, and multiple triage rooms with their own accompanying waiting rooms."
Additional ambulance bays, X-Ray and CT scanning spaces, behavioural assessment rooms and private family consult rooms are also included in the project.
Ms Thomas said the project is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) in partnership with local builder Joss Group and Albury Wodonga Health. It will create and sustain more than 100 local jobs during peak construction.
"The Victorian Government is providing $6 million towards the project through the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund to build a 16-bed short stay unit which will help reduce wait times in the emergency department, so local patients can get the very best care, sooner."
"The emergency department expansion is being delivered in two stages. The first stage will deliver the new emergency department and is on track to be completed in late -2023. The second stage of the project will deliver the short stay unit in mid-2024."
"Each project stage is receiving input from staff and the emergency department team, who are developing a new model of care. This includes increased staff numbers, a specialist and multi-disciplinary team approach and the early, appropriate clinical streaming of patients for the best care," Ms Thomas added.
Mr Clancy said Albury Hospital is not an old hospital but the growing regional population and increasingly complex health needs have meant a much larger, more modern emergency department is needed to serve the border community.
"I am pleased the NSW and Victorian governments are working together to deliver this project which will provide substantial improvements on the current facility not just in terms of capacity but through more sympathetic streaming of patients to improve our experience at the ED," Mr Clancy said.
"I thank NSW Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor and Victoria's Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas for coming to Albury today to announce that construction is beginning."
The NSW Government has provided $30 million towards the new state of the art Emergency Department, with the Victorian Government providing $6 million.
The expansion will support almost 80,000 patients projected to go through the emergency department by 2031.
