Rehab centre works begin

CONSTRUCTION is underway at the old Bendigo Hospital building, bringing modern facilities and services to the site.

The building will house the new Bendigo Health Day Rehabilitation Centre, consolidating services including allied health, dental, mental health services, physiotherapy and renal dialysis under one roof.

A new hydrotherapy pool is also being built as part of the $59.5 million project, funded by the State Government.

Member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan was on site to turn the first sod last Wednesday.

“It’s great to be here to see the start of works on Bendigo’s new Day Rehabilitation Centre,” she said. “This was a commitment the Andrew’s government gave to the Bendigo community back at the 2018 election.”

Ms Allan said the project, which also includes the demolition of the old towers at the front of the new hospital site once the rehabilitation centre is operational, will create about 180 jobs.

The works add to the number of construction sites around town, with progress being made at the new GovHub building and Law Courts.

“There’s an investment in these construction projects for two key reasons, they support construction jobs, and they support local businesses in our area,” Ms Allan said.

“The legacy is important new modern infrastructure to provide great services for our local community.”

Bendigo Health board chair Bob Cameron said the new centre will make a noticeable difference to patient experience.

“For Bendigo to have a new hospital, and to have this facility done, we’ve just gone ahead in leaps and bounds when you compare us to the rest of regional Australia,” he said.

“What we’ll see is a large aggregation onto this site, which is going to make it a lot easier to operate, but also it’s a central point for people to come to… leading to better patient experiences.”

Construction of the rehabilitation centre is expected to be finished by the end of the year.