St John of God Ballarat Hospital Expansion nears completion

“Working with H.Troon and local contractors in Ballarat has been fantastic, and we hope to be able to continue fostering these important relationships for future projects,” BESIX Watpac Site Manager Simon Rowe said.

“We’ve completed almost 220,000 hours of labour, and over 859 inductions have been conducted, and we’re really pleased with what we’ve achieved to date.”

Director of Redevelopment for St John of God Ballarat Hospital Expansion, Matthew Lyttle, praised the high level of collaboration between the two builders.

“BESIX Watpac and H.Troon have worked collaboratively together with local contractors to meet the project’s requirements, and we look forward to seeing the full suite of new facilities open soon to service the local community,” Mr Lyttle said.

“A highlight of this project so far has been the cath-lab – it’s a world-class facility. Every surgeon that has visited has looked at it and said it’s fantastic. The surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, and intensivists are all getting incredibly excited to move into these new areas.”

Managing Director for H. Troon, James Troon, said the partnership with BESIX Watpac was the first of its kind for the company which has a close relationship with the hospital and has serviced the Ballarat community for 154 years.

“For H.Troon this is the first joint venture we’ve been involved in. We knew we needed an experienced partner in delivering complex health infrastructure to ensure we got this project right and with BESIX Watpac they’ve been able to help us deliver a remarkable build,” he said.

The project has been delivered in a live environment where hospital operations have continued whilst a new pathology area, a central sterile services department (CSSD) and a new in-patient tower, featuring a state-of-the-art cath-lab was constructed. The project team are now concentrated on creating new administrative office spaces within the existing hospital premises.

"The building has been structurally designed with future expansion in mind so that additional levels can be seamlessly integrated at a later date,” Mr Troon said.

"Services have also been planned to accommodate future growth, and while the Level 1 floor slab hasn't been fully poured as part of this project, structural connections have been strategically installed to facilitate its completion in the future for expansion purposes."

The need for the hospital expansion was identified when the hospital reached 97% occupancy and it was expected the local community would experience a population boom. With only the final energisation of the building awaiting, the project is expected to open in the coming months.