Moving a whole hospital

Moving an entire hospital in one day is no easy feat. It takes meticulous planning, and for more than a year that’s exactly what Western Health teams have been doing.  

On 18 February, around 180 inpatients will move from the Gordon Street site to the new state-of-the-art hospital on the corner of Ballarat and Geelong Rroads in what will be one of the largest hospital moves in Victoria’s history. 

The move will take place over 12 hours, supported by hundreds of Western Health staff and overseen by a dedicated command centre at the new hospital. 

Kate is Divisional Director of Operations Readiness for the new Footscray Hospital Project. Her role has been to support the transition of clinical staff from the old to the new. 

'A lot of planning has gone into the move and we’ve done a lot of contingency planning for different things that might occur on the day,' Kate says. 

This has included countless hours of testing, simulations and even a mock move – with mock patients – to ensure your new hospital is ready to go from day one. 

Alongside this, more than 4,500 staff have completed 22,000 hours of training to prepare for the move. 

Inpatients will be transferred from the original hospital to the new hospital using ambulances and buses, starting in the morning with our more well patients, and working our way through to our more acute patients later in the day.

The route between hospitals and every patient journey has been planned down to the minute. 

'It’s been remarkable to watch our staff step into the new building for the first time,' Kate says.  

'The light, the space, the views — it’s a completely different environment, and seeing their excitement reminds us why this project matters so much for our community.'

'I’m really confident that Western Health will be able to deliver a safe move for our patients and our staff.'