The Labor Party will spend $150 million to build a new dedicated cardiac hospital in Melbourne’s east if it wins the Victorian election on Saturday.
The standalone hospital at Clayton would have 195 beds and include an emergency department cardiac laboratory and imaging facilities.
It would be built in partnership with Monash University.
Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said it would be only hospital of its kind in the country.
“This is such a unique and exciting opportunity, not a wing or a ward or an extension, but a free-standing Victorian heart hospital just like the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Royal Women’s Hospital.
“We will make this happen because it will save lives.
“It will provide the care and support, the best of research the best of training, the best of treatment, to Victorians with a heart problem from right across our state.”
The director of MonashHeart, Professor Ian Meredith, said the new Clayton facility was “an inspired moment”.
“It is really an outstanding visionary solution to meeting the capacity and needs for healthcare delivery, particularly cardiovascular delivery, across Victoria for the next 20 to 50 years,” he said.
The Coalition had pledged $7 million to build a similar hospital upgrade, while Labor said it would also create a women’s and children’s centre at Sunshine Hospital.
Mr Andrews said the hospital would help deal with heart disease, which he called the number one killer in the community.
“It’s also how we’ll give the best clinicians, the best doctors in the world, as well as the best researchers, the facilities they need to save lives.”