Bendigo Health Care Group Hospital in Bendigo, Australia

Bendigo Health is a leading regional health service in Victoria, Australia, with around 5000 staff and a catchment area that covers a quarter of the size of Victoria. The three main campuses of Bendigo Health are located in Bendigo, with many services extended to regional settings including areas such as Mildura, Echuca, Swan Hill, Kyneton, and Castlemaine. The organization provides services in emergency, maternity, women’s health, medical imaging, pathology, rehabilitation, community services, residential aged care, psychiatric care, community dental, hospice, palliative care, cardiology, cancer services, and renal dialysis to people of the Loddon Mallee region.

In addition to operating a large acute hospital, Bendigo Health offers subacute services including inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, a regional psychiatric service, residential care, specialist clinics, dialysis, and a range of outreach services such as hospitals in the home. A 724-bed service, Bendigo Health treats more than 49,000 inpatients, deals with more than 52,000 emergency attendances, delivers around 1,400 babies, and takes more than 110,000 medical images each year.

These services are complemented by an integrated Cancer Centre, which administers around 9000 chemotherapy treatments each year, an 80-bed Psychiatry Unit, and 11 operating theatres where almost 15,000 surgical procedures are performed annually. The hospital's history is rooted in the gold rush of the mid-19th century, which brought 40,000 people to Bendigo and led to the creation of a formal health service for the region. The hospital has been shaped by the community's support and generosity and has faced many challenges throughout the years, including depressions, world wars, and outbreaks of disease. Today, the hospital continues to serve the community with a modern and well-equipped facility that is designed to provide the best possible care to patients.