MEMBER for Northern Victoria, Wendy Lovell, has called on the State Government to urgently clarify whether Mernda Community Hospital will receive operational funding in the wake of the 2025–26 Victorian State Budget.
Ms Lovell raised the issue in State Parliament, warning that Mernda could follow the same path as Craigieburn Community Hospital, a completed facility still sitting idle months after construction.
According to the Victorian Health Building Authority, the Mernda hospital, previously referred to as the City of Whittlesea Community Hospital, is on track to be completed by the end of 2025. But Ms Lovell said that unless specific operational funding is allocated, the hospital may not open once construction is finished.
“Construction alone doesn’t open a hospital. We need to know whether there’s any money in the budget to actually staff, equip, and run Mernda Community Hospital,” Ms Lovell said.
In 2024, the Craigieburn Community Hospital was completed and operational funding was announced in that year’s budget. However, the hospital remains closed, with no staff and no services, because no money was ultimately directed to begin operations.
Ms Lovell said the same uncertainty now hangs over Mernda.
“There is a line item in the new budget for hospital operations, but Mernda is not named and that raises serious questions,” she said.
She has formally asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether the 2025–26 budget includes any money for Mernda’s operations, and how much funding is earmarked for each year under the forward estimates.
“The catchment area for Mernda includes some of the fastest-growing suburbs in Melbourne. We can’t afford another padlocked hospital. Local families deserve access to health care close to home, not more broken promises.”