Ambulance Victoria's (AV) new state-of-the-art ambulance branch in Rochester is officially open, in another historic milestone for the town's recovery from the 2022 floods.
The multi-million-dollar facility is home to a team of five paramedics and a team manager supported by dedicated Ambulance Community Officers (ACOs) who are a critical and valued part of AV's response in rural and regional Victoria.
The modern facility, that is open 24-hours-day, is already making a real difference since first opening its doors on 23 September 2024.
Following the devasting 2022 floods, the project involved demolishing the existing branch on Mackay Street and replacing it with a fit-for-purpose facility.
AV Loddon Mallee Regional Director Matt McCrohan (third from left) and Interim Chief Executive Officer Andrew Crisp (fourth from left) visited the new branch and crew at Rochester.
It features a three-bay garage for ambulances, two bedrooms with one relievers section for our hard-working crews to recuperate, new training facilities, a fully equipped kitchen and improved security. It has also been raised to mitigate against future flooding events.
"This new, purpose-built branch ensures our paramedics and ACOs have the facilities and support they need to quickly respond to life-threatening emergencies and assist in saving lives," AV Loddon Mallee Regional Director Matt McCrohan said.
"This opening marks an extra special milestone for our Rochester team and the wider community, closing yet another chapter in the town's remarkable rebuild.
"Our team was personally impacted by the 2022 floods yet showed amazing resilience and true community spirit to continue providing care for their community.
"So, it is especially meaningful for them have a new, safe and modern home-base that will serve the Rochester community and the Campaspe Shire for many years to come."
The Rochester team holding the new branch plaque.
Mr McCrohan said the bigger and better, custom-built facility replaces a branch built in 1964 which the team had well and truly outgrown.
"The old branch served its time but was no longer big enough to accommodate the crews and training and operational requirements of the modern era," Mr McCrohan said.
"It gives them the space they need since the Rochester ambulance service was upgraded to dual paramedic crews in 2020."
The project was funded by the Victorian Government's Ambulance Victoria Development Program and delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority (VHBA) in partnership with AV and builder, Bowden Corporation.
It's one of more than 40 new ambulance branches built since 2015. This includes new branches in Echuca and Inglewood in the Loddon Mallee Region.
