Published on 28 September 2022
Western Health CEO Russell Harrison joined Corinna Christensen, Director, Capital Development and the Project Planning Team on a site walk at the new mental health facility under construction at Sunshine Hospital last month.
The 52-bed unit will increase acute mental health bed capacity – giving people experiencing mental illness access to immediate treatment in a modern, safe and high-quality setting.
Delivering on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, the facility is the largest of four new facilities that will deliver an additional 144 mental health beds across the state.
The new unit will be known as the Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit and is due to be commissioned in May 2023.
Despite material supply issues and the impact of COVID-19 on constructions crews, rapid progress can be seen driving into the site from Majorca Street.
More than 90 per cent of materials for the construction are local, including all the steel and glass for the facility.
Approximately 300 modules have been prefabricated in Pakenham, and have been delivered and installed from March this year.
More than 120 construction workers were on site in August and this number is expected to reach 250 by the end of the year.
The project is being delivered jointly by North Western Mental Health and Western Health.
Picture L-R: Eamonn O’Donoghue, Senior Project Manager, Russell Harrison CEO, Jolene Geh, Area Manager, Mid-West Area Mental Health, Corinna Christensen, Director, Capital Development, Michael Hemmingway, Project Manager – Pathway to New Mental Health Beds, NWMH and Barbara Warcok, Project Manager, Western Health.
