Health precinct plan before council

LEADING Mildura developer Larry Dimasi has unveiled a bold $25 million plan to build a medical and childcare precinct on Eleventh Street by the end of 2026.

A planning report shows the precinct could provide major pain relief to the region’s strained health services.

It would include two buildings for medical services on the corner of Eleventh Street and Riverside Avenue, along with a new childcare centre (which will have 170 places) and 270 parking spaces.

For Mr Dimasi, who runs Dolfen Developments, the plan – which has been submitted to Mildura Council for consideration – is the realisation of a near-two-decade vision.

“It’s the best solution for the challenges that we’re facing,” said Mr Dimasi, who has been building medical, childcare, residential and industrial properties in the region for the past 35 years.

“We’re at a pivotal point to support change for additional health care in the district.

“The state government is under financial pressure so something had to be done at a local level.

“Mildura has given so much to me.

“It’s now one of the fastest-growing regional cities in Australia, and it’s time for me to give back.”

He said that if there were no delays in the approvals process, “we’ll hopefully be turning earth at the site by the end of this year”.

“We need to build facilities for the future,” Mr Dimasi said.

The planning report raised the possibility of Mildura Base Public Hospital relocating some of its services, including mental health and wellbeing, to the Eleventh Street site, where up to 70 specialists could take up work.

“Our region is faced with unique health care planning and delivery challenges, with the population currently experiencing relatively poor health outcomes compared with the overall Victorian population,” the report said.

“This state-of-the-art facility will provide additional outpatient medical services and care to meet the community’s health demands.”

It said the main benefits of the project to the community would include:

• Reduction in patients requiring the need to travel outside of the region for health care
• Attraction of specialist and medical practitioners to the region; and
• Meeting the service requirement outcomes from the Mental Health Royal Commission 2021.

Mr Dimasi’s plan comes on the heels of other major projects being rolled out in the region, including the Trentham Waters development, and work about to get under way on a multi-million-dollar facelift of Mildura Marina.