Two new Melbourne hospitals were built months ago – but locals still can’t use them

In Melbourne’s fast-growing north, a brand-new community hospital stands behind a barbed-wire fence.

Modern streetlights dot the car park. Native trees have been planted next to the footpaths. Signage has been affixed to the beige-and-black facade.

Hume City councillor Jim Overend has led a council motion asking for an explanation from the state government about why two new community hospitals have remained closed.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

But the building is not humming with staff or fully open to the public, despite major construction winding up months ago. And residents are starting to get frustrated.

“It’s been sitting abandoned for months now,” one local mother wrote on Facebook. “The lights are on 24/7. What a waste of electricity!”

“I would say the state government is broke. Real broke,” another local wrote.

Former premier Daniel Andrews promised to build the Craigieburn Community Hospital – and nine others like it – on the eve of the 2018 election campaign. The idea was for these small public hospitals to take pressure off emergency departments by offering urgent care for minor injuries and illnesses, as well as allied health, alcohol and mental health services.

Construction was slated to finish by 2024, but three months into 2025, residents of Craigieburn and nearby suburbs still haven’t been told when the community hospital will be fully operational.

Meanwhile, the budget for the entire project has blown out by more than $100 million despite the scrapping of three sites in Eltham, Fishermans Bend and Torquay.

The brand-new Craigieburn facility, built next to the existing Craigieburn Health Service, has become such a hot-button issue that the local council – the most Labor-dominated in Melbourne – has demanded an explanation from Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas.

A Hume City Council resolution, put forward by Liberal-aligned councillor Jim Overend but supported by his Labor-aligned colleagues, noted in its background remarks that the community hospital had been “completed for some time with covers over the signage and the main entrance closed off”.

Former premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas at a press conference in 2023.Credit: Justin McManus

Overend told The Age the motion was born out of frustration.

“They won’t give us an answer on when it’s open,” he said.

“I spoke to staff there, at the older part [of the health service], and they have no idea. The crux of it is we’ve got a hospital there and we don’t know when it’s opening. Our community deserves better.”

This masthead has confirmed that community health organisation DPV Health has operated out of the revamped Craigieburn site for a few weeks, but that patients are told to enter through the old Craigieburn Health Service building.

“[The new hospital] is not operational at all other than DPV is operating in there,” said a community health source, who wished to remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak publicly.

“I don’t believe Northern Health have any operational funding [for the community hospital] until the new financial year. I haven’t seen them advertising any positions.”

Craigieburn is not the only growth suburb in this position. Similarly, a community hospital in Cranbourne, in the city’s southeast, is built but with no word on an opening date.

Casey Residents and Ratepayers Association vice-president Anthony Tassone said residents had endured disruption due to roadworks and the relocation and eventual closure of much-loved businesses at the former community hub where the hospital has been built.

“Residents are keen to see the new Cranbourne community hospital open and operating, but despite the building looking to have been completed for some time, do not know when it will be able to take patients,” Tassone said.

“Cranbourne and surrounding suburbs have been playing catch-up with development in infrastructure, transport and health services for too long,” he said.

“Residents have worn the pain and now want to see the gain of health services that have been long promised by the Victorian government.”

Casey is Melbourne’s largest municipality, with a population of 400,000, and has just one main public hospital in Berwick, plus a smaller facility in Cranbourne.

The council said it was still awaiting an official opening date.

Coalition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said Labor’s “financial incompetence” was to blame for the delayed opening of the two new hospitals.

“Preventative health is critical to keeping patients out of hospital, but the dire state of Victoria’s budget means community hospitals sit idle and Victorians can’t access basic primary care.”

Northern Metropolitan Liberal MP Evan Mulholland, whose electorate covers Craigieburn, said the lack of a timeline for the northern suburbs site showed Labor’s “contempt” for the region.

“Like the pub with no beer, our local community in Craigieburn don’t have a hospital, just an empty building behind a fence.”

A state government spokesperson insisted that construction at the Craigieburn and Cranbourne community hospitals was ongoing.

“Final works [are] under way, so services can open progressively throughout the year,” the spokesperson said.

“The community is already benefiting from the opening of a new pharmacy and extended dialysis services at the Craigieburn Community Hospital.“

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