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Williamsons Sounds features private furnished units, along with shared indoor and outdoor spaces where visiting clinicians can mix with their colleagues.
By Catherine Watson
WITH private balconies, and featuring local art, work stations and the sound of the sea, Williamsons Sounds feels like a rather swish hotel.
But this is a hotel with a difference, solely for visiting clinicians at Wonthaggi Hospital. The idea was that if we build it they will come and, we hope, return.
The two-storey apartment block, named Williamsons Sounds after a vote by hospital staff, was officially opened on Monday.
The $13 million project was part funded through the State Government’s Regional Worker Accommodation Fund with Bass Coast Health contributing the balance before it became part of Bayside Health at the start of this year.
With staffing shortages at most regional hospitals, the new accommodation gives Wonthaggi Hospital an edge in attracting staff.
Bayside Health Regional Care Group CEO Louise Sparkes said the 20 self-contained units would help to attract and retain doctors, nurses, specialists and allied health workers.
“This is a gamechanger for our ability to attract clinical professionals to our region,” she said.
One of eight hospital staff booked in to Williamsons Sounds on its opening night was Meor Azraai. Now Bayside Health’s Director of Medicine for the regions, Dr Azraai started at Wonthaggi Hospital as a junior registrar in 2019.
“Anyone who works here knows there is something special about Wonthaggi Hospital,” he said. “You get to know each other not just as clinicians but as people.”
Dr Meor Azraai, Aunty Doseena Fergie (Bayside Health elder in residence) and Jordan Crugnale officially open Williamsons Sounds. b
Dr Azraai said they had consulted visiting clinicians to find out what they needed in terms of accommodation.
“As a consultant you need to be close to the hospital. Junior staff need somewhere to unwind after the stresses of the day.
“People can come together here. We hope it will be a home away from home, a few minutes away from their workplace.”
He said junior staff who felt supported were far more likely to return as senior clinicians.
“That means we can attract talented practitioners and clinicians to Wonthaggi Hospital and keep them longer.
“The Bass Coast community is growing and health needs are becoming more complex as the population ages. We want Bass Coast people to receive health care close to home.”
Bass MP Jordan Crugnale said it would also ease pressure on Wonthaggi’s rental market, freeing up to 26 houses used by Bayside Health to accommodate its visiting workforce.