Birth of nursery

PREPARATION works for the construction of the $4.2 million expansion of Casey Hospital’s special care nursery have begun.
Health Minister Daniel Andrews visited the site on Tuesday and turned a sod to mark the start of the building phase on the project, which will more than triple the number of nursery cots to 20.
Late last month construction workers started preparation for building to begin early next year.
About 32 workers will be employed during the construction.
“We built and opened the Casey Hospital in 2004, and now we’re funding a major expansion of the special care nursery so that more families in the outer-eastern suburbs can access the very best maternity services, close to where they live,” Mr Andrews said.
“The expanded special care nursery will have an extra 14 cots, which will reduce the need to transfer newborns requiring extra care to other hospitals. It means that these sick babies can be treated close to home, close to their families.”
Joining Mr Andrews for the sod turn was three-year-old Brayden Kotsch from Pakenham who was born at Casey Hospital in 2007 and spent two weeks with respiratory concerns at the special care nursery.
Brayden’s mother Sarah said they were well aware of the importance of the service and more importantly the need to expand it so even more families could benefit.
Nearly 5000 children have been born at Casey Hospital.
The expansion project is expected to be completed in August 2010.