World-class education & research centre at new Footscray Hospital structurally complete

Victoria University (VU) Chancellor The Honourable Steve Bracks AC and Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Shoemaker today welcomed the impressive progress that has been made on the new Footscray Hospital, which will be one of Victoria's largest health infrastructure project when completed in 2025.

Three of the five major structures that will form part of the new $1.5 billion world-class hospital precinct are now structurally complete, meaning they have reached their maximum height. This marks the project’s halfway point overall.

This includes a five-storey 5000-square-metre education and research centre that Victoria University will occupy for health and medicine training, and research and learning in a range of areas such as nursing and midwifery, physiotherapy, speech pathology, dietetics, biomedicine and psychology.

The building will link to VU's Footscray Park Campus via a public pedestrian footbridge across Ballarat Road.

Two other buildings are also structurally complete: a five-storey commercial building on Tiernan Street that will house a health and medical precinct, a childcare facility and retail spaces; and a five-storey car park on Federal Street.

The car park building will open onto a Village Green at the ground level, and integrate green wall gardens, a gymnasium, and other retail and community spaces.

The new hospital's main 10-storey, 500-bed building, and a five-storey sub-acute-care building are scheduled for completion mid- to late-2024.

VU will help shape the west's health workforce

Chancellor Bracks said Footscray was set to be an exceptional destination for health, education and research, and the connection between the new hospital and Victoria University would be crucial to its success.

“Through the VU education and research centre, and its direct link between the Footscray Park Campus and the new hospital, we will equip the next generation workforce and drive research that will shape the future of Melbourne's west,” he said.

VU has a long-standing relationship with hospital service provider, Western Health, established since the 1980s. Western Health is VU’s main industry training partner for nursing and midwifery, providing critical work-integrated learning opportunities that prepare students for employment in the health sector.

Each year, almost 1,000 VU students complete over 110,000 hours of clinical placement at Western Health sites.

A Western Health and VU 2025 Alliance Plan developed last year is designed to optimise the partners' joint expertise in health, research and education to benefit the region.

The new Footscray Hospital will replace the current one on Gordon Street, which was built in the 1950s. It will treat almost 15,000 more patients and allow 20,000 extra people a year to be seen in emergency.