Celebrating the first 10 years of Epworth Geelong

Image: (L-R) Epworth Geelong Executive General Manager Scott Norman and Prof. Stripp, AM

Helping care for her Nanna when she was living with Alzheimer’s disease was Eliza Ross’s inspiration for becoming a nurse.

Every clinician you meet in a hospital has a personal motivation for working in healthcare, and for many, like Eliza, the key driver is they have seen the difference compassionate care can make for both patients and their families.

In Geelong, there is also the desire to care for people locally.

Today we acknowledge all staff, doctors, volunteers and donors and thank the Geelong community as we celebrate the first 10 years of Epworth Geelong.

In 2016, Epworth Geelong opened with a vision to bring world-class healthcare closer to home for the people of Geelong and surrounding communities. Ten years on, we are proud to have become a trusted part of the region's healthcare landscape, caring for thousands of patients and their families with the compassion, expertise and excellence that defines Epworth.

So far, we have had more than 310,611 patient admissions, including the treatment of 51,000 patients with kidney disease, 40,000 in oncology, 38,000 for general surgery, 24,000 for gastroenterology, 17,000 for pain management and 14,000 for orthopaedic surgery.

We will keep growing to ensure we continue to meet the increasing demand in our community.

We opened two new theatres in August 2025, taking the total to 11 theatres, and our new day oncology unit opens on 6 July, expanding treatment spaces from 10 to 22. This is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built unit designed to focus on the care patients need when undergoing treatment.

Next year, we will open new consulting suites to support the establishment and consolidation of services including neurosurgery, pain services, and the expansion of gynaecology. Planning is also well advanced for construction of a new 28-bed ward to allow increased patient access.

Epworth Geelong will continue to invest in advanced surgical technology to support complex procedures and help deliver the highest quality care for people in our community.

Deep brain stimulation is one of our areas of innovation. This is an advanced neurosurgical procedure used to treat complex movement and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia. The procedure involves implanting electrodes in targeted areas of the brain to modulate abnormal neural activity, significantly improving symptoms, function and quality of life for appropriately selected patients.

Epworth Geelong is proud to be the first regional hospital in Victoria to offer deep brain stimulation, providing patients across the Barwon and the south west region access to highly specialised, world class neurological and neurosurgical care close to home.

Another innovation has been advanced blue light technology which is supporting early diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer for local patients. Epworth Geelong was the first in Australia to introduce the Stryker blue light cystoscope, along with upgraded software.

Epworth Geelong has grown deep roots in the community, particularly through our partnerships with Barwon Health and Deakin University which have helped strengthen healthcare, education, research and wellbeing across the region, ensuring more people can access high-quality care.

Since 2017, 223 nursing graduates have completed the program at Epworth Geelong, including 160 from Deakin University Geelong. To support local nurses, we work with Deakin on the Collaborative Clinical Education Epworth Deakin Fellowship. We also support undergraduate nursing students from rural and regional areas through Brookes Academy at Epworth scholarships, increasing from 20 to 40 students.

As we celebrate this milestone, we do so with gratitude for the trust our patients, doctors and community have placed in us, and with pride in the people who have built Epworth Geelong into the hospital it is today.

The past decade has been an extraordinary journey, but we are equally excited about the future. We will continue to invest in our services, our people and our partnerships, with a relentless focus on clinical excellence, innovation and delivering outstanding care for our community.

Thank you to our staff, doctors, volunteers, donors and community for being part of the first 10 years of Epworth Geelong.

We look forward to caring for the people of Geelong and beyond for years to come.