Federal budget delivers $95M for Bendigo Health expansion

The federal budget has allocated $95 million to Bendigo Health's Stage 2 expansion program, accelerating the construction of a dedicated cancer centre, an expanded emergency department, and additional inpatient capacity that the hospital has been seeking funding for since completing its Stage 1 expansion in 2019. The investment is part of the government's $2.4 billion regional health infrastructure program that targets hospital upgrades in fast-growing regional cities where population growth has outpaced clinical capacity.

Bendigo Health chief executive Martin Laverty said the federal funding, combined with the state contribution announced in the Victorian budget, gave the hospital the full construction budget required to proceed to tender. Construction is expected to commence in mid-2027, with the cancer centre — which will provide radiation therapy and systemic treatment services that currently require Bendigo patients to travel to Melbourne — targeted for completion in 2029.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the investment recognised that regional Australians deserved access to specialist healthcare in their own communities, noting that the 200-kilometre Melbourne round-trip that Bendigo cancer patients currently make for routine treatment cycles was a genuine equity issue that the cancer centre would resolve.

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