Two major hospital upgrades promised by Labor at the 2022 election are late, and deadlines are fast approaching for two more projects that are still in the planning phase.
A major upgrade to Maroondah Hospital, which will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, was due to start construction in 2025, but there have been no public updates to the project since 2023.
In 2022, the Andrews government promised between $850 million and $1.05 billion to deliver, rebuild and refurbish Maroondah Hospital and rename it, but keep it on the existing site.
A public update in July 2023 included expressions of interest for early designs and said “construction is expected to start in 2025, and around 2500 jobs will be created during construction alone”.
The Age has confirmed that a business case for the hospital has been completed and was with the government as long ago as March 2025. But the government has refused to release the business case under cabinet in confidence principles.
In 2024, this masthead reported there had been discussions about potentially moving Maroondah Hospital to a different location because of difficulties redeveloping on its current site, which Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas vigorously denied.
The government has not publicly changed this position, but the delay in construction or updates since the business case was completed has raised questions about when the project will be delivered and how the upgrade will look.
Queen Elizabeth II Hospital is part of the government’s Hospital Infrastructure Delivery Fund program.
Another project under that program, the new West Gippsland Hospital, was advertised to start construction in 2024. Work is also yet to begin.
Other projects under this fund which are still in their early stages include $290 million in upgrades to Wonthaggi Hospital, promised to be delivered by 2027, and a $295 million emergency department upgrade at Dandenong Hospital scheduled to start work in 2026.
A spokesperson for the Allan government said all four projects were undergoing “detailed planning work”, which had been funded in previous budgets.
At a parliamentary estimates hearing in June, Health Infrastructure Minister Melissa Horne said building on the existing Maroondah site was “incredibly challenging”.
Over the previous 12 months, Horne said, the government had completed due diligence, such as assessing the building’s structural integrity, the condition of services and assets on site and planning around clinical services.
Horne said she was unaware of any proposal before the government to host the site at a different location.
Victorian Health Building Authority chief executive Priscilla Radice said in June the organisation was “working very hard on the existing site” when asked if the government was committed to the Ringwood East location.
“You need to be able to move one building before you can put another building on that site, and we also need to work through our near neighbours,” Radice said.
“It is a bit like a Tetris puzzle when you work through what you can take away to bring in something new while you are keeping the hospital operational for that community.”
Labor went into the 2018 and 2022 elections with ambitious promises for health upgrades, but have struggled to deliver amid cost blowouts and other challenges.
A 2018 election pledge to build 10 community hospitals was initially scheduled to be completed by mid-2025, but has been pushed out to the end of 2026, and three hospitals have been removed from the government’s website for the policy.
Budget papers say the three areas – Torquay, Eltham and the Emerald Hill precinct in South Melbourne – will have further planning to “determine the optimal care models to best meet priority service needs in these communities”.
The total cost of the scheme has risen from $675 million to $870 million, which the budget puts down to extra dialysis chairs in Sunbury and changes to the scope of projects.
A 2022 pledge to build the “the biggest hospital project in Australia’s history” at Arden was also scrapped in 2023, with the promised facilities to instead be built with upgrades at Parkville.
At the time, then-treasurer Tim Pallas said further investigations found electromagnetic interference to hospital equipment was a “very substantial problem” that could not be resolved in a financially responsible way.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said: “Labor promised Victorians they could do it all, but clearly it was just a hollow promise as health projects are being delayed or scrapped.”
Ringwood MP Will Fowles, an independent formerly of the Labor Party, said nothing had changed at Maroondah Hospital despite promises made eight years ago.
“Labor’s promises have included an emergency department, a ground-up rebuild, new operating theatres, more than 200 new inpatient beds, a new mental health hub and construction commencement in 2025. What they have delivered is absolutely nothing,” he said.
The Victorian Healthcare Association (VHA), in a submission for the upcoming state budget, urged the government to put greater focus on repairing existing facilities.
“Victoria’s population is growing and changing, placing a strain on existing infrastructure, and pushing up demand for healthcare across the state,” the submission says.
“Many facilities and assets are ageing, with buildings, operating theatres, diagnostic imaging equipment and digital communication systems no longer fit-for-purpose or able to meet the complex and growing needs of Victorians.
“Funding over the past decade has been insufficient for health services to future-proof health infrastructure, with funding often prioritising new builds, rather than maintaining or redeveloping existing infrastructure.”
The VHA said Infrastructure Victoria research showed many buildings were close to the of their life and needed urgent repair.
Infrastructure Victoria’s 30-year strategy also estimates between $6 billion and $8 billion in additional funding is needed over the next decade for urgent redevelopments at three of the state’s biggest hospitals.
This money was needed to properly replace The Alfred’s operating theatres, upgrade much of Austin Hospital and build new hospital wards in Parkville, Infrastructure Victoria said in November.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
