Published on 10 November 2022
The Sunshine Hospital mental health expansion project has reached an important milestone with the completion of a prototype room.
Key stakeholders visited the site in early November to review the prototype room, which includes a bedroom and ensuite, in what will be known as the Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit.
Among the visitors were Western Health Board members and Executive, Victorian Health Building Authority, North West Mental Health, Melbourne Health, and various Western Health teams such as Infection Prevention.
The purpose of the visit was to prompt feedback on the facility, to ensure it provides a safe and therapeutic environment for patients.
Lendlease and the Capital Development team led the visits and will ultimately use the feedback to improve the design for consumers, clinicians, staff and families.
Delivering on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, the new 52-bed unit will increase acute mental health bed capacity and give people experiencing mental illness access to immediate treatment in a modern setting.
The site has been designed to be contemporary, safe, warm and supportive with large communal lounge areas and secure outdoor spaces.
The project is being delivered jointly by North Western Mental Health and Western Health and is due to be commissioned in June 2023.
Pictured from left: Prof. Andrew Conway, Eamonn O’Donoghue, Dr Cathy Hutton, Robyn Batten, Adj. Prof Elizabeth Kennedy, Deborah Cole, Adrian Planner (Lendlease), Michael Hemingway (NWMH) and Neel Charitra (NTC Architects).
L-R: Devanshu Raithaththa, Richard Bartolo, Michael Hemingway, Eamonn O’Donoghue
