August 28th, 2024New operating theatre opens in Daylesford

Daylesford hospital’s new operating theater has officially opened and has already started being used to provide locals with much-needed procedures, with the hospital also putting on new staff.

The new theatre, funded with a $6.14 million grant through the state’s Regional Health Infrastructure Fund, has started being used gradually from last month with 21 patients from across the local region undergoing scope procedures there.

Last Tuesday it was officially opened with a visit from the state’s Minister for Health Infrastructure, Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas and delighted staff, board members and management from the local hospital and wider Central Highlands Rural Health Service of which it is part.

Central Highlands Rural Health acting CEO Phil Catterson says that initially the long-anticipated new theatre will be used to provide scope procedures, such as endoscopy and laparoscopy.

He says it will also be used to  deliver eye procedures, a strategic niche area for the local health service to pursue.

Mr Catterson says the range of procedures able to be provided at the new theatre is ultimately planned to increase.

Director of Nursing Meagan Harding says that currently the new theatre is providing an average of seven procedures a week, on Fridays, with this number also expected to increase into the future.

A total eight new permanent staff and 12 additional casual roles have been created at the health service as well, with expectations that more staffing hours will become available into the future.

The new theatre represents the first major upgrade to the hospital’s operating theatre space since the late 1980s and is being very much welcomed by staff and management – as well as locals keen to have procedures done closer to home.

“It has taken over 12 months to build,” Mr Catterson said.

“SJ Weir did the work and they’ve been wonderful.”

He said work to secure the state funding some 16 months ago, had began about two years prior with the community raising $100,000 for a master plan.

“It’s great for the community. Safer, and we’ve also got new equipment and new staff,” Mr Catterson said.

The works have also included upgrades to the patient waiting area, recovery and admission areas, as well as the sterile stock storage area and the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) processing area – replacing ageing patient monitoring and CSSD medical equipment.

The upgrade is now supporting the hospital’s dedicated doctors and nurses to deliver more surgery and get more locals off waiting lists and into surgery and treatment, sooner – and closer to home.

Words: Eve Lamb