Werribee Mercy Hospital installs demountables to reduce wait times

Demountables will be used to increase capacity at a Werribee hospital’s emergency department but critics say the region needed a new facility “four years ago”.

Installation of a portable emergency department outside a hospital in Melbourne’s west is promised to reduce wait times in an overwhelmed health care system.

Last week, construction began on a 24-bed short-stay unit outside Werribee Mercy Hospital using modular demountables prefabricated off-site.

The unit is expected to be operational by late July or early August, catering to patients who are not critically ill but need further observation before they are discharged.

But GP and former Werribee Mercy Hospital director of medical services, Dr Joe Garra, said the “embarrassing” installation shows the region needed a bigger hospital “four years ago”.

“This is basically an admission that we were ignored until it became critical,” he said.

“Now we are getting a portable. I wonder if the Health Minister and our local members will come and open it.”

Cranes install temporary modular buildings to improve emergency department wait times at Werribee Mercy Hospital. Picture: Werribee Mercy Hospital.

In March, a report by Wyndham Council identified a 282 hospital bed shortfall at the hospital, with councillors sharing “dreadful” stories of residents being turned away from Mercy Health.

“When the cities of Wyndham and Melton become home to a collective of over 1 million people, we must acknowledge that the current Mercy Hospital and the proposed Melton Hospital will simply not be enough to supply the population,” councillor Adele Hegedich said at the time.

They unanimously endorsed a motion calling on the state government to explore the feasibility of a new hospital in the region.

Two months later, the government promised a $100 million upgrade to the hospital‘s emergency department – doubling the existing capacity.

The redevelopment, which will begin this year, will be staged to avoid disruption to the existing department and is expected to be completed by 2026.

Werribee Mercy Hospital’s general manager Maree Pane said the temporary unit would increase capacity inside the existing emergency department.

“This temporary unit will be ideal for patients who might present with a sprained ankle or a broken wrist,” she said.

“It will be good for patients who need some medical care but are unlikely to need admission to a ward.”

Ms Pane said the short stay spaces inside the existing department would move outside, helping to reduce waiting times and conserve beds for the “most acute patients”.

Werribee Mercy Hospital‘s health services chief executive adjunct professor Jason Payne added the unit was a “temporary solution” to address growing demand.

“The state government’s willingness to identify a short-term opportunity demonstrates that it understands the critical need for both expansion and investment in the Wyndham corridor,“ he said.

According to the Victorian Agency for Health Information the average non-urgent patient at Werribee Mercy Hospital can expect to wait for more than an hour to be assessed – the longest median wait time in Melbourne.