The entrance to Wonthaggi Hospital will shift to the new main hospital from this Friday 9 December. The existing entrance will be closed.
Bass Coast Health staff, from left, Health Service Coordinator Cath Jones, Acting Nurse Unit Manager Cat Bunn and Associate Nurse Unit Manager Yvonne Phillips in the Emergency Department in the Wonthaggi Hospital Expansion.
Excitement levels are high among the team at Bass Coast Health as the first services in the Wonthaggi Hospital Expansion (WHE) are about to open.
The Emergency Department (ED) and Short Stay Unit, Radiology and Main Reception will open in the WHE this Friday December 9.
“This is the moment that our staff, as well as the community, have been waiting for,” BCH CEO Jan Child said.
“After years of planning and watching construction progress, we are finally at that moment where we can rollout services in the $115 million expanded hospital. We can’t wait to throw the doors open to the public as we know they are as excited about their new hospital as we are!”
The ED and Short Stay Unit will open from 10am. Until that time, the ED and Short Stay Unit will operate from the current location in Armitage House, accessible via Baillieu Street West.
People wishing to access the ED in the WHE will be able to do so by entering the hospital from Graham Street and parking in the main carpark. They can follow the signs to the ED – look for the big red ‘Emergency’ sign – and enter via the dedicated entry and present to ED reception to receive treatment.
The Short Stay Unit is part of the ED where patients requiring an overnight stay for observation or to receive treatment such as physiotherapy the next day are cared for.
Main reception for the expanded and existing hospital will operate from the WHE from 7am on Friday 9 December. Patients and visitors can park in the front park and enter the door marked ‘Main Entry’.
“From 7am on December 9, the new Main Entry will be the public’s entry point into the hospital for Radiology, Pathology, the Acute Ward, Surgery and Maternity,” Ms Child said.
“Our staff and volunteers will help you to find your way and there will be ample signs.”
Allied Health services, including Dental, will still be accessible via the Ambulatory Care entry in the current hospital.
The current main entrance will be closed to the public from 7am on Friday December 9 and renovated in January to provide for another corridor linking the expanded and current hospitals.
The Emergency Department is located on the ground level of the WHE and includes general cubicles, resuscitation cubicles, a plaster room and a procedure room.
The Acute Ward will move into the expanded hospital in early January and Theatre will relocate late January/early February.
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