Bendigo Health - Brief History

Established in 1857, the Anne Caudle Centre campus has seen many changes, challenges and opportunities in provision of services to older people and people with disabilities. The centre provided a refuge for the aged, infirm and destitute in the booming gold rush periods of the 1850s and was known for its quality residential care for those requiring nursing home services in later years.

The Bendigo Psychiatric Centre opened in 1971. Bendigo took on the concept of community-based care long before many other areas of the state as the delivery of psychiatric services in a rural area required strong community links.

In 2010, Bendigo Health boasts a staff of over 3,300 covering an area a quarter of the size of Victoria. Bendigo Health is a 678-bed service that treats over 35,000 in-patients, deals with over 44,000 emergency attendances and 1,200 babies are born here hear year. These services are complimented by a 60-bed rehabilitation unit, eight bed critical care unit and five operating theatres where around 10,000 surgical procedures are performed annually.

The organisation 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.

The three main campuses of Bendigo Health, the Bendigo hospital and Anne Caudle Centre campuses and the John Bomford Centre are in Bendigo, with many services extended to regional setting including areas such as Mildura, Echuca, Swan Hill, Kyneton and Castlemaine.

Demand for services is increasing rapidly with Bendigo being one of Australia’s fastest growing inland cities.

For over 150 years, the hospital has been located on its current site at the corner of Arnold and Lucan Streets. In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that the ageing building infrastructure on that site needed upgrading and replacement.

After an extensive planning process over the last few years, the Victorian Government has committed in excess of half a billion dollars towards a new hospital for Bendigo.