Building for the future

The new centre will also complement The Alfred's groundbreaking way of streamlining patients through the hospital.

"Over the last year we've tested a completely new approach, which sees senior medical staff assess patients soon after arrival and patients directed to the appropriate care stream, leading to shorter waits," says Martin Keogh, Clinical Services Director - Emergency & Acute Medicine.

As one of two adult major trauma centres for Victoria, The Alfred treated over 62,000 people in 2014-15, including 7300 trauma patients.

"With a 24 per cent growth over the past five years and ongoing demand, we've had to work out new, effective methods to care for our patients into the future," Mr Keogh explained.

"With a purpose-built facility we'll be able to further our work in keeping patients in hospital no longer than clinically necessary. We've been able to consistently meet medical targets by adopting this new approach."

The redevelopment, which will be completed over 18 months, will include a:

• new Rapid Intervention Treatment Zone where patients will be seen on arrival by a medical consultant-led team, who will initiate assessment, investigations and treatment
• additional state-of-the-art trauma bay in which to treat some of the 1200 major trauma patients treated by The Alfred annually
• bigger clinical area for treatment of minor injury and illnesses
• expanded Xray, CT scanning, MRI, ultrasound and radiology services, which will allow two critically ill patients to be scanned at the same time
• new clinical space designed specifically for mentally ill and drug affected patients and
• refurbished and expanded general cubicles.

Funded by community support, the new centre will be known as the Eva and Les Erdi Emergency & Trauma Centre, after the Eva & Les Erdi Humanitarian Charitable Foundation gave The Alfred the single largest donation it has ever received.

Construction is due to commence in early 2016 and be completed in late 2017.