![An artist's impression of the new-look emergency department at Warrnambool Base Hospital. An artist's impression of the new-look emergency department at Warrnambool Base Hospital.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/nB9BrLNgExsfwsLgDBevWP/10d487da-8bf8-4de3-af65-319e4ff2ca4d.png/r0_0_1920_1079_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Warrnambool hospital's $3.7 million redeveloped emergency department is set to open to the public within days with the project tracking ahead of schedule.
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South West Healthcare chief executive officer Craig Fraser said it was a "good news story".
The first phase of the makeover would handover to the hospital on Monday, June 17, and over the following week it will be commissioned before opening to the public on June 27 or 28.
The refurbished area that has been completed includes two new waiting rooms - separate adult and paediatric area - as well as new triage and reception space, new ambulance area and four new clinical spaces.
Mr Fraser said work on the project was tracking ahead of schedule.
"They've worked really hard to deliver it because they know it's a critical bit of infrastructure. It will make a big difference for the team and mainly for patients," he said.
While there will be a whole new emergency department in the $384 million redevelopment of the hospital, Mr Fraser said the ED currently under renovation wouldn't be obsolete. "It's not wasted money," he said.
"It gives us an ability, which we hope we never have to go back to a COVID situation, gives us a separate entry where we can triage.
"That would not be the intent but the way it's been designed we can easily flex it into outpatient clinics."
Mr Fraser said they were building up their outpatient clinics across the organisation in sites that were closer to the street.
![South West Healthcare chief executive officer Craig Fraser gives an update on the hospital building projects. Picture by Anthony Brady South West Healthcare chief executive officer Craig Fraser gives an update on the hospital building projects. Picture by Anthony Brady](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/nB9BrLNgExsfwsLgDBevWP/fca0e41a-9e25-476c-9eb9-8c664e5a39a2.jpg/r0_290_5673_3782_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The hospital this week revealed it had to cut a number of support services from the $384 million revamp, including the proposed 120-space underground car park.
The new kitchen that was to go in the old underground car park has also been shelved, but Mr Fraser said the old kitchen was in need of a refurbishment.
"We'll be working hard to do that in the background," he said.
If there was no money left over from the redevelopment to upgrade the areas that were cut from the project, Mr Fraser said they would be putting in submissions for more funding to do the work.
Mr Fraser said about six months ago it became clear budgets were "extremely tight", and when they started looking at a practical and pragmatic solution.
"We're really grateful we've got the money, we have to remember that it is still a committed project and it's a substantial amount of money that we can achieve a lot with," he said.
Winter puts hospital under pressure
Mr Fraser said the service was continuing to grow with more than 2000 employees across all campuses but as the region entered winter, the hospital was full.
"We have grown a lot in the last five to six years. COVID slowed it down a little bit but we're actually now full today," he said.
"We're in those critical winter months where we get really busy."
Mr Fraser said unlike Bendigo in recent weeks, the hospital had not yet reached a code yellow - an internal emergency that meant the hospital's systems were unable to cope with demand.
"Is it out of the thought pattern? No it's not," he said.
"We're really clear that being two hours from Geelong and Melbourne that we don't want to go to a situation where our ambulances can't clear and we can't get people moving.
"So it's our least preferred option to go to a code yellow because we want to make sure the ambulances are back on the road as quick as possible.
"On the whole we do pretty well but it becomes times where it gets tight."
Mr Fraser said the hospital was still working through where it was going to put the promised PET scanner within the precinct.