Alfred Health News

Acknowledged for its expertise in rehabilitation, Caulfield Hospital has been chosen by the Victorian Government to run a new statewide Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) rehabilitation service. The Unit will treat patients with the most severe acquired brain injuries from early stages of injury through to rehabilitation and return to community.

This joint project, involving the Commonwealth Government, Victorian Department of Health, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Alfred Health, will provide a service which will substantially improve access to quality care for patients with moderate to severe head injury resulting from traumatic accidents, illness or stroke.

The Department of Health appointed consultants in July 2011 to undertake a review of the Caulfield Hospital site in order to determine the feasibility of building the new ABI facility at Caulfield Hospital. Extensive work has gone into the planning for this new state-of-the-art facility.

The new service will accommodate up to 42 inpatients and will also include a community rehabilitation service plus a transitional living service to help patients return to daily activities, and possibly the workplace, following rehabilitation.

Construction is scheduled to begin in November 2012, with completion in June 2014.

The new building will be strategically located towards the rear of the Caulfield Hospital site and integrated into the existing logistics, allied health and rehabilitation precincts. The building will not exceed the height of the adjacent logistics building.

There will be no changes to site access, with the main public entrance remaining at Gate 2, Kooyong Road. During construction, all construction vehicles will access the site via Kooyong Road at Gate 1. Some service delivery vehicles will continue to utilise Newstead Street as usual.

We are excited about this outstanding opportunity to develop a new statewide centre of excellence in rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injuries. The service will also have the aim of preventing young people with these injuries being placed inappropriately into aged care nursing home facilities.

The model of care for the new service has been developed following an extensive review of best practice models from current research literature and from service site visits within Victoria, NSW, the United Kingdom and Canada.

This exciting project will also involve Caulfield Hospital's health professionals playing a leading research and teaching role in ABI rehabilitation which will benefit our local and larger communities.

The hospital will be following EPA guidelines, as is normal practice, to minimise any noise or other disruption to our neighbours during the construction process. Construction vehicles will not be using local streets and will be directed to use only Kooyong Road to enter and exit the hospital site.

Click here to view the campus site map, including the site of the ABI unit.

If you have any queries about the new project, please contact Public Affairs on tel. 9076-6275.