Silence on awaited Cranbourne community hospital

The Cranbourne Community Hospital remains unfinished with no end in sight, as locals endure long travel and wait times at nearby major hospitals. Jasmine Krnjaic reports.

The Cranbourne Community Hospital's opening remains unscheduled, leaving nearby major hospitals inundated with mass patients travelling in from surrounding suburbs.

Construction on the hospital was scheduled for completion in 2024, promising Cranbourne locals with healthcare closer to home and reducing the pressure on major hospitals. However, the facility still remains in development, and no updates have been provided about the hospital’s opening.

A concept image for the long-awaited Cranbourne Community Hospital, which has gone two years over schedule. (Image: Supplied)

Charlie, a Cranbourne local and nurse working at Frankston Hospital, said that the Community Hospital’s opening would have the greatest impact on the paediatric group, mental health patients, and older adults. 

“They have to go to either Frankston or Casey, and both of those options aren’t really that close,” she said. 

“I’m working at Frankston. There have been times where we’ve sent elderly patients down to Rosebud. They don’t live near Rosebud, [but] now they’ve been transported down there to make room for the people at Frankston.”  

“We’re all sending them to the same hospitals and that’s gonna take up beds – we need [the hospital] in order to match the growth,” she said. 

Cranbourne locals currently endure extensive travel for emergency services and increasing wait times in major hospitals. Brianna, a Cranbourne resident, took her 3-year-old daughter to Frankston Hospital’s emergency department in late April and had to wait hours for attention.

“I travelled 30 minutes in the car with my daughter bleeding from an eye wound,” she said. “We sat in the waiting room for a solid four hours, (and) she was still actively bleeding during this time.” 

“When she did get seen, they looked at it and said there wasn’t enough staff to sedate her in order to actually complete stitches on her eye.” 

Brianna said they “bandaged her up for the night” and told them to come back in the morning. Her daughter was delayed another full day before receiving surgery.  

According to the Australian Medical Association, as of 2025, only 53% of emergency department visits are completed within four hours, illuminating the current patient flow challenges in the Victorian hospital system. 

When open, the Victorian Health Building Authority have stated that the Cranbourne Community Hospital will offer after-hours urgent care, as well as day surgery, mental health services and a range of other public health services intended to ease the pressures on major hospitals surrounding patient influx. 

Charlie said that in addition to the community hospital, a larger government action is needed to better alleviate hospital admission issues. 

“We always need more attention,” she said, “there’s never a simple answer. But I think they need to build a major hospital in the area. I think Clyde is the perfect example of where that can be built,” she said, “and I would love to work at a hospital closer to home.” 

The Cranbourne site is one of ten locations around Victoria that constitute the Community Hospital Program. Five of these sites were scheduled for completion in 2024. However, the 2023 Major Projects Performance Report assessed that the program is over six months behind the approved schedule, with the scope requiring government review.  

As of 2025, none of the hospitals have been opened for public use.