First look: $6m for apartment complex, medical centre in Bendigo CBD

A $6m investment in new medical services in Bendigo could see reduced wait times for appointments and fewer patients forced to travel to Melbourne - if it gets the greenlight.

A Bendigo medical centre's proposal of a major renovation to meet rising patient demand in Bendigo‘CBD. Picture: Bree Architects.

A developer has staked $5.5m to turn a vacant lot into an apartment complex for NDIS clients and a new medical centre in Bendigo’s CBD while a medical clinic has proposed a $500k upgrade just down the road.

The three storey mixed use development would see the apartments atop a medical centre tenancy at street level with access to 15 undercroft car parking spaces on Myers St in the heart of town.

Each unit is designed to be funded under NDIS as Specialist Disability Accommodation for clients living with “an extreme functional impairment or very high supporting needs”, including one apartment for a carer to stay overnight, town planner Kate Foldi stated.

The property to the rear of the subject site is occupied by a three-storey building – Sandhurst Medical Practice on Mollison St which hosts at least 11 GPs.

Meanwhile, just down the road, Goldfields Urology has proposed a major renovation to meet patient demand with a meeting of the “old and new” architecture.

A developer has staked $5.5m to turn a vacant lot into an apartment complex for NDIS clients. Picture: Taylor Reynolds Architects.

The proposal would see a part of the clinic knocked down to make way for a two-storey renovation with a modern extension built on the existing “Inter-War” style home.

The project would increase the number of consulting rooms and “improve the overall functionality of the building as a medical practice”, Statutory Planner Tiffany Bussem stated in planning documents.

A developer has wants to turn a vacant lot into an apartment complex on Myers St. Picture: Realcommercial.

Australian Medical Association Victoria President Jill Tomlinson said improved access to health services would cut down on long wait times for regional patients and allow them to access care locally.

“It’s very positive for the community. We know that being able to deliver local access to care saves people time, saves people money,” she said.

Increasing the capacity for regional medical providers allowed patients to get their treatments locally instead of being forced to travel to Melbourne, Dr Tomlinson said.

“Delivery of care close to home is the cornerstone of what we’re aiming for,” she said.

It would also help alleviate the burden on an understaffed and overworked regional and healthcare workforce struggling to meet the demand of their communities, Dr Tomlinson said.

Goldfields Urology on Myers St has proposed a major renovation. Picture: Bree Architects.

“Reducing burnout is improving retention and the recruitment of doctors to regional areas and alleviating the burden on emergency department,” she said.

“If people have access to timely care, people are less likely to present to an emergency department in crisis.”

However, because the site falls within a Heritage Overlay, the proponents must prove the vision “supports and protects neighbourhood character, cultural identity, and sense of place” to get the project green lit by council.

Ms Bussem said the proponents had engaged architects to come up with a design “sympathetic to the heritage character of the area”.

The renovation would be constructed of grey colourbond sheeting, external red brick and cement sheeting and the new wing of the medical center would be built over the carpark, creating a quasi-undercroft.

First look at proposed renovation of Goldfields Urology. Picture: Bree Architects.

Architect Joost van Bree said the design and materials brought together the “old and new” while “respecting each of the architectural styles and their respective historical contexts”.

“With continuing growth of the practice the current constraints of the property have been reached and as such expansion and functional improvement for staff and patients is required to propel the practice into the future,” he said.

Goldfields Urology has been operating since December 2011 after it was initially approved an existing home to be converted into the medical centre it is today.

The subject site is located in the Bendigo CBD on a corner lot nearby other medical clinics - abutting Bendigo Dental Laboratory immediately to the south along Mundy Street.

Goldfields Urology owner associate professor Janelle Brennan declined to comment.