Special Care Nursery on track for completion
Work on Southern Health new Special Care Nursery at Casey Hospital will be complete this year as an inspection of the Berwick site revealed today.Southern Health Acting Chief Executive Siva Sivarajah led State Health Minister Daniel Andrews on a site tour to inspect progress on the $4.2 million project which will deliver 14 additional special care nursery cots, increasing the number of cots from six to 20.
The roof sheets and plant wall cladding are almost complete, plasterers are installing stud walls and sheeting on the first floor and external stud walls have been erected.
“Southern Health has started planning for operational commissioning and is preparing to purchase furniture, medical equipment and other clinical fittings and fixtures,” Mr Sivarajah said.
“This expansion will go a long way to meeting the growing demand on maternity services in the Casey-Cardinia growth corridor accommodating up to 1,000 extra births each year.”
The expansion will also make way for consulting suites with areas for health promotion, education, and advocacy for families of seriously ill babies.
Monash Children’s Medical Director Professor Nick Freezer said it was important to deliver services where they are needed the most.
“It will reduce the need to transfer newborn babies requiring extra care to other sites, allowing mothers and babies to stay together,” he said.
“The expansion of the Special Care Nursery will add significantly to the care we can offer at Casey.”
Completion is scheduled for late October.