Planning is set to get underway for Australia’s first specialised heart hospital, which will be built in Melbourne.
The Victorian Government has put up $15 million to start planning on the $350 million centre to be built at Monash University in Clayton.
The Victorian Heart Hospital will become a centre of medical research into heart disease and will have 195 beds, an emergency department and a training facility for heart specialists.
Labor had promised to build the hospital before winning the November 2014 state election.
State Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the Government would contribute $150 million to the project and the rest would come from the private sector and donations.
“For Australia, the Victorian Heart Hospital will be the centre of excellence and expertise when it comes to research and prevention and treatment,” Ms Hennessy said.
“We’re going to work both with the philanthropic community, with the private sector and obviously with universities, other hospitals and other research institutes to ensure we’re able to access the funds.”
Almost one person an hour dies of heart disease in Australia.
“We’ve seen a great deal of attention in the cancer space, and rightly so,” Ms Hennessy said.
“But we have not yet pulled together a model of care targeted at cardiac disease, prevention, education and research.
“What we’re going to do with the Victorian Heart Hospital is bring all of those people together and see if we can take the next important step in finding better cures, better treating patients, but most importantly working out what more can be done to prevent heart disease.”