Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas have praised staff at Werribee Mercy Health (WMH) for their delivery of world-class health care for the people of Melbourne’s west.
“It is initiatives like the Rapid Access Hub (RAH) and the extension and doubling of the capacity of the hospital’s Emergency Department which will allow Mercy Health to keep delivering the world-class care it’s renowned for,” Premier Andrews said as he toured the WMH campus with Minister Thomas and Victoria’s Treasurer Tim Pallas.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews meets Werribee Mercy Hospital (WMH) Rapid Access Hub (RAH) staff.
Up to 800 endoscopy procedures in upgraded endoscopy suites are scheduled for between now and the end of June, as part of the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 catch-up plan.
Premier Andrews said WMH was one of Victoria’s first public health providers to get their RAH up and running.
“The people within the western catchment of Melbourne are entitled to be grateful for the service they have received from the hard-working staff at WMH not just now but over many years.”
Minister Thomas said the eight hubs state-wide are not only allowing more patients to get the treatment they need faster, but also ensuring the government is delivering on its long-term reform plans to deliver more surgery than ever before.
Premier Andrews, Treasurer Tim Pallas and Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas fronting the media at Werribee Mercy Hospital.
Experienced WMH Nurse Unit Manager (NUM) Melissa Fox has overseen the upgrading of four suites in the new RAH to reduce the long waitlist time for endoscopic procedures, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The collaboration with other health providers in the west is a significant and exciting element of the initiative,” Melissa says. “Patients from across the Wyndham corridor will be the beneficiaries.”
The RAH project dates back to the final months of last year when Melissa and RAH Project Lead Ellie Searle, were given the responsibility of planning the transformation of four procedure rooms — one room is dedicated to the treatment of WMH patients who are currently on the endoscopy waiting list.
The other rooms are for patients on elective surgery waiting lists throughout other public hospitals in Melbourne’s west.
“We also needed to find an appropriately qualified team, which occurred mainly through our internal processes and it was not necessary to embark on too much of a recruitment drive,” Ellie explains.
The Premier with RAH Project Lead Ellie Searle.
Now in her third decade of nursing, Melissa says despite the significant task, from the outset she felt prepared for what lay ahead.
“When the pandemic reached a serious stage in 2020, I was the NUM of 24 isolation beds at a newly commissioned COVID-19 unit at another public hospital. We admitted 700 patients during a 20-month period,” Melissa said.
“It was high pressure and a time of great uncertainty so I think I am well prepared for a project like the RAH.”
“To get the RAH running so efficiently and to undertake 800 endoscopies between now and the end of June is an outstanding result,” the Premier said.
The Victorian Government’s overall plan includes a $1.5 billion investment that will see more than 240,000 public patients receive surgery each year by 2024 — more than 40,000 additional procedures per year than pre-pandemic levels.
Last reviewed April 4, 2023.