A new hospital with emergency helipad and large aged care facility needs to be built in West Gippsland to service the area's booming population, residents, businesses and community groups have said.
The proposed hospital - which would be built near Melbourne's burgeoning south eastern fringe - is one of a range of ideas backed by the Committee for Gippsland, including a Traralgon bypass, duplication of the Princes Highway between Sale and Traralgon, and vastly improved rail services.
![Mary Aldred, chief executive of the Committee for Gippsland, is leading the push for a new hospital.](/web/20170208061949im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/8/f/u/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu88zf.png/1486534256055.jpg)
The Committee for Gippsland's pre-budget submission also urges the State government to back a push for Lakes Entrance to host the National Surf Life Saving Championships in 2022, an event that it said could generate an economic benefit of up to $23 million, and to provide funds to enable the South Face Road to Mount Baw Baw alpine resort to be sealed with bitumen.
The proposed new hospital would be built on vacant land owned by the local healthcare group, between the district's two largest and rapidly growing towns, Warragul and Drouin.
It would replace the ageing and out-dated Warragul facility, which was built in the 1950s and which is straining to cope with the massive demand for health services as the population of the district soars.
"The current site is small and cannot keep pace with increasing demand, with West Gippsland forecast to reach 100,000 people by 2030, and there is no way the current hospital will be able to service this number of people," the budget submission said.
The submission called for a new hospital with a multi-level design, more beds, improved clinical facilities and patient amenities.
Baw Baw Mayor Joe Gauci said West Gippsland "definitely needs" a new hospital. Cr Gauci said Baw Baw was one of the top 10 fastest growing municipalities in Victoria, and was home to many young families.
He said the current hospital was "still a great hospital, it does its best, but it needs a new home".
The Committee also called for an upgrade of the South Gippsland Highway, including more overtaking lanes and ultimately, dual carriageway between Lang Lang and Leongatha.
The Committee for Gippsland chief executive, Mary Aldred, said it was "absolutely critical" that a new hospital be built.
"It's drastically overdue for a rebuild," she said.
"Gippsland and particularly West Gippsland because it's the epicentre of that population growth, has an important role to play in Victoria's overall population increase and managing that population, so that it's not all city-based."
Ms Aldred said boosting the Gippsland rail service had become more urgent given the impending closure of the Hazelwood power station.
"We've been certainly a second-class rail citizen to other regional areas for way too many years now," she said.
While it was not mentioned in the budget submission, Ms Aldred responded to questions about the state government's plans to build a new high-security youth justice centre in Victoria.
Asked if she was interested in Gippsland being home to the new centre, she said: "Wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. We've already got Fulham Prison, it's medium security, it's also had upgrades there with additional beds in the last couple of years ... but the key thing is that it needs community acceptance."