Yesterday, 13 of Northern Health’s consumers and volunteers completed a tour of the new Ward 17 (ICU) as part of Northern Hospital’s Stage 2 Tower Expansion Project.

Since September 2017 to mid 2018, consumers and volunteers at Northern Health were involved at all stages of the design process, and provided valuable ideas and suggestions from their experiences at Northern Health and other hospitals.

This feedback was considered and incorporated into the plans for the tower expansion design, and the consumers and volunteers had the opportunity yesterday to see the design come to life!

Mary De Gori, Director of Capital Planning and Development, thanked the consumers and volunteers for their input throughout the different design phases.

“They had really valuable suggestions, which have been incorporated into the building,” she said.

“Yesterday, the consumers seemed very happy with how it all came together, and we received some great feedback from them,” she added.

The Northern Hospital Stage 2 Expansion Project will expand the facilities and infrastructure completed in June 2016 (three storey tower block connected to the main hospital). The Victorian Government committed $162.7M for the Stage 2 project to be delivered in an early works ($22.17M) and main works ($140.5M) stage.

‘Stage 2 early works’ commenced late March 2018, with the construction of a new loading dock, mortuary, back of house (supply, environmental services, stores) and plant to ground level, including fit-out of a Level 1 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 18 ICU beds.

Consumer Participation Coordinator, Sherrilyn Ballard, said, “It was a great joy to see many faces light up in response to seeing the fruition of their patient and family-centred feedback come to life.”

“To see it from the drawings on the table to how it looks today is just brilliant,” Consumer, Faye Foggie, said of the tour yesterday.

“As a consumer, it was great to have a voice,” Faye added.

Another of our consumers, Veronica Jeffrey, said, “We were engaged from the start, so it’s very nice to see the finished project we have all contributed to. The hospital really listened to us.”

The current ICU is planned to move into the new ICU on 26 March 2019.

Staff tours of the new Ward 17 (ICU) will be commencing 4 March 2019 and RSVP’s are essential. To book a tour, please click here. 

The project team have also established a portal on the Intranet, where staff can view images, floor plans and answer any questions you may have. Click here to go to the portal.