The Andrews Labor Government is upgrading the Ballan ambulance station – giving locals and visitors the peace of mind that paramedics will be responding to life threatening medical emergencies all day, every day.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health Steve McGhie and Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle today announced the Ballan ambulance station will provide 24-hour coverage from next week.

The Labor Government will deliver $1.6 million per year to upgrade Ballan to a 24-hour station seven-days-a-week. It will also include the deployment of additional paramedics to service the station and fund a new emergency response vehicle.

This upgrade will make a real difference to local paramedics who have seen a significant increase in demand with more visitors to regional Victoria this year and new families opting for a ‘tree change’ and moving out of Melbourne.

Locals and visitors will also benefit from improved response times from paramedics at night.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a lasting impact across Australia, with more ED presentations, more ambulance callouts – and less people seeing their GPs.

That’s why the Government has delivered an extra $759 million for Ambulance Services and Emergency Departments in the Victorian Budget 2021/22 for more triage nurses, expansion of telehealth and more paramedics and ambulances on the road.

With more paramedics, more beds and new types of triage, Victoria will recover faster and ensure our local communities continue to have access to the world-class care they deserve.

Since coming to Government, more than $1 billion has been invested in Ambulance Victoria.

Quote attributable to Parliamentary Secretary for Health Steve McGhie

“Hard working Paramedics in Ballan do an amazing job and continued to deliver world class care during the coronavirus pandemic. We’re backing them with the support they need to do their job – saving lives.”

Quote attributable to Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle

“With more and more people calling this wonderful region home, we know demand is increasing and paramedics need the extra support. This upgrade will ease the workload and give them the rest breaks they deserve.”

Quote attributable to Minister for Health Martin Foley

“Ballan locals can have peace of mind that highly-skilled paramedics will be responding to critical medical emergencies round-the-clock. That means better access to the very best emergency care, sooner.”