Breaking first ground on groundbreaking new heart hospital at Monash
Monash University Vice Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AO was joined by Health Minister Jill Hennessy MP and project partners from Monash Health to turn the first sod on Australia’s first dedicated heart hospital at Monash University.
The ceremonial shovelling of dirt at the site of the new hospital officially marks the beginning of works on the $543 million, state of the art cardiac facility that will combine the very best in research, teaching and cardiac patient care.
The Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH) will open in 2022, and have the capacity to provide 195 beds, 1,500 cardiac surgeries and 13,500 cardiac laboratory procedures, catering for 28,300 cardiac emergency presentations and 108,000 consultations annually.
A first look at the designs for the new hospital were also revealed today. The hospital's entire second level is dedicated to education and research, housing facilities for both Monash University and Monash Health staff and students.
Located just one floor below where cardiac procedures will take place, world-leading researchers can more freely interact and collaborate with clinicians to imagine and co-design new solutions for patients, fast.
Professor Kate Denton, Head of the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s Cardiovascular Disease Program, is keen to see the VHH project develop.
“Our researchers are working at the forefront of knowledge to understand the causes and consequences of heart disease, with the aim to discover new therapies,” Professor Denton said.
“Links between our researchers and the VHH will streamline the pipeline of discovery to translation,” she said.
The clinical research facilities, multi-functional labs for engineering, IT and biomedicine, together with the design lab and simulation rooms, have all been designed to aid in the discovery of new solutions, test new thinking and draw insights from data, and are at the centre of the hospital's integrated research culture.
Also at the event was world-renowned cardiologist and researcher Professor Stephen Nicholls, who has joined Monash University as Professor of Cardiology and will lead the new Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH).
Find out more about the Victorian Heart Hospital
About the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
Committed to making the discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, the newly established Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally-renowned research teams. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.