Melbourne, 3 June 2013: Thursday's announcement that the Bendigo Hospital project in Victoria has achieved financial close marks another milestone for the Construction and Major Projects team at Clayton Utz as legal advisers to the Victorian government on the project.
A Clayton Utz team led by Construction and Major Projects partner Jo Pugsley and special counsel Sarah Neaves, with support from Project Finance partner Dan Fitts, has been advising the Department of Health (Victoria) on all stages of the project since the firm's appointment in April 2009. Other key members of the Clayton Utz team include partner Sallyanne Everett - Environment and Planning, special counsel Sharene Hambur - Property, and senior associate Wayne Jocic - Construction and Major Projects.
The Bendigo Hospital project is the largest regional hospital development in Victoria's history, and one of the largest hospital projects currently being undertaken in Australia. It will see a new hospital built on a single site at Barnard Street, with 372 new beds and 10 new operating theatres and an integrated cancer and mental health unit, as well as ancillary facilities including a childcare centre, wellness centre, 128 serviced apartments, 15 apartments for short stay accommodation and a 180 seat conference facility.
The project will be delivered as a public private partnership and has an estimated capital value of A$630 million. It is expected to be completed by end 2016. The project has a number of complex interfaces that needed to be worked through in the contract documents as it involves the construction of a new facility on the same site as an existing hospital that will remain operational throughout the construction period.
Joanna Pugsley said the success in procuring these complex hospital projects is often down to the quality of the team involved in the process. Jo said that "achieving such a big milestone for the project is testament to the depth of capability that the Department of Health and more generally the State of Victoria has in delivering on public private partnerships".
The Bendigo Hospital project adds to Clayton Utz's significant experience in PPP health infrastructure, which includes advising the South Australian government on the New Royal Adelaide Hospital project, the Plenary consortium on its successful bid for the $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre project, and the Exemplar Health consortium on its successful bid for the $2 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital project.