By NICOLE VALICEK
A NEW operating theatre and birthday cake were the big ticket items during Health Minister David Davis’s visit to the Williamstown Hospital last week.
The minister celebrated the historic 120th anniversary of the Williamstown Hospital before touring and officially opening its new operating theatre last Thursday.
Mr Davis said the celebration was a historic milestone in the rich history of the hospital, now operated by Western Health, and the Williamstown community.
“To meet growing demand for elective surgery, the Victorian Government secured $3 million from the Commonwealth’s National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services to build a fourth operating theatre in Williamstown Hospital,” he said.
The new operating theatre is a state-of-the-art ‘i- theatre’ which features the latest cutting edge web-based technology.
“This ‘i-theatre’ will support and enhance staff education at Western Health by allowing operations to be recorded and shared in real-time with students,” Mr Davies said.
“The technology also expands opportunities for consultation with specialists in other hospitals, and allows procedures to be recorded and referenced at a later date.”
The $3 million project includes a refurbishment to the operating theatre admission area, a refurbishment to the central sterile services department and the construction of a fourth operating theatre.
Western Metropolitan Region MP Bernie Finn said Williamstown Hospital had been identified as an elective surgery hub.
Mr Finn said this meant less acute patients requiring routine elective surgery could come to Williamstown Hospital, rather than going to Sunshine or Footscray.
Fellow Western Metropolitan Region MP Andrew Elsbury said the Williamstown Hospital had played a central role in the Williamstown community and the settlement of Victoria.
The Williamstown Hospital opened on 27 July 1894 with just six beds and was the first free public hospital in Victoria.
Mr Elsbury said the hospital opened in response to increasing accidents from the busy port, railway workshops and the industrial areas of Newport, Spotswood and Footscray.
