St Vincent’s Health Australia is building a 12-story tower at Fitzroy’s St Vincent’s Hospital to expand capacity and enhance healthcare services in the area. The $180 million Fitzroy private hospital redevelopment is a significant step in upgrading Fitzroy’s healthcare facilities and ensuring better patient care quality.”It became obvious that the hospital in Fitzroy needed to have things updated and expanded, given that the operating facilities at East Melbourne were starting to become very overstretched,” said Dr John Vrazas, a radiologist consulting at St Vincent’s Private Hospital, to Neos Kosmos.
A healthcare transformation
The project “was given oxygen” almost a decade ago by residents and specialists seeking to modernise and expand healthcare facilities in the Fitzroy medical precinct, which includes research on public and private healthcare services.
The construction, backed by funding from St Vincent’s Health Australia and public contributions, is now halfway done and is expected to finish in late 2024, with the opening close behind.The development includes various state-of-the-art facilities such as operating theatres, an expanded Intensive Care Unit, Radiology services, Maternity services with birthing suites and a Special Care Nursery, Neurology and Neurosurgery units, an integrated Cancer Research program, and a Digestive Diseases Centre of Excellence.
Moreover, it will provide services for Heart and Lung diseases, including a program for cardiac robotics.
“The ward space itself is a big plus for people coming into the hospital where there’s been limited ward space now, not only for the building project but also from the hospital’s point of view, being quite old,” explains Dr Vrazas.
Additionally, improvements in rehabilitation facilities, waiting times, and diagnostic services are expected, with the anticipated introduction of an advanced computerised booking system and electronic medical records.The Greek Australian doctor expects shorter waiting thanks to the almost doubling of capacity from the expansion.
The necessity for this project became even more evident during the pandemic, as “COVID exposed the need for it” due to an “overflow from not only the other two hospitals, also from the public hospital.”
Bridging private and public sectors in the Fitzroy medical precinct
Cameron Smith, the Capital Campaign Director of St Vincent’s Health Australia Foundation in Victoria, says St Vincent’s Hospital in Fitzroy “is pretty much one of the only places in Australia where the public and private sectors work so closely together.”He explains that many St. Vincent’s specialists work in public and private healthcare settings, allowing them to provide specialised care to patients in the public hospital when needed “and vice versa.”
“We just needed to expand our services, but also to attract the best specialists to St Vincent’s, so when our patients come here, they’ve got the best specialists in Melbourne looking after them,” Mr Smith tells Neos Kosmos.
Integrating an on-site radiology department within the new Hospital Tower is also set to enhance patient care convenience, as the existing Radiology department at St Vincent’s operates independently and separately from the main hospital. “Having an on-site service will increase its efficiency so people can get tests on-site,” says Dr. Vrazas.
Families as donors can leave a perpetual and lasting legacy
The new project also presents families with a unique opportunity to leave a legacy by naming the rooms, floors, operating theatres, and gardens within it, with the option of prominently displaying their name on the tower at St Vincent’s Private situated on the intersection of Victoria and Brunswick Streets in Fitzroy.
Mr Smith says that “individuals or families can name various spaces within the new hospital tower, including rooms, floors, operating theatres, oncology bays, nursing stations, and two gardens—one for maternity and the other, the Saint Mary of the Cross McKillop Garden.
There is the possibility of in-memoriam recognition in this garden, given its historical significance as Saint Mary McKillop’s birthplace.
St Vincent’s Private Hospital has recently launched a Donor Care Program, offering major donors non-medical concierge services to enhance their healthcare experience.These services include helping donors find the right specialists, arranging hospital visits, extending invitations to special events, and ensuring they have convenient access to transportation as and when required.
“The Program is focused on looking after our major donors throughout their healthcare journey and if they need advice on which specialist to talk to, we can help. We support them right through their care at St Vincent’s. We like to call it the ‘peace of mind’ card,” says Mr Smith.
Dr John Vrazas’ medical journey
Dr. Vrazas, an interventional radiologist who consults at St. Vincent’s Private Hospitals, has played a pivotal role in advancing minimally invasive, image-guided surgical procedures and provides services to both inpatients and outpatients, offering consultations to medical and surgical patients and performing invasive procedures.The independent practitioner specialises in vascular and endovascular techniques, utilising advanced equipment and software, and performs various procedures, including catheter placements, addressing bleeding blood vessels, unblocking arteries, inserting stents, managing bleeding tumours before surgery, treating fibroids in women with heavy periods, and addressing vascular malformations and birthmarks in both paediatric and adult patients.
Born and raised in Melbourne to Greek parents, Dr. Vrazas began his medical journey at the University of Melbourne.
After clinical training at St Vincent’s Hospital and paediatric clinical training at Monash Children’s Hospital, he transitioned to radiology at Royal Melbourne in 1990. After completing his radiology training in 1994, he embarked on a nearly two-year fellowship in interventional radiology in the United States. Upon his return, he resumed work at Royal Melbourne, which had integrated with Western Hospital, leading to three years of service there.
In 2000, he transitioned to St. Vincent’s Public Hospital, where he established a private radiology lab in 2002, ultimately transitioning to full-time private practice in 2007. Dr. Vrazas admits that he always had a natural inclination towards surgical procedures and a desire for “procedural work.”
While working in the neonatal ICU, he observed the emerging potential of ultrasound technology for safely guiding delicate instruments within the body. With guidance from a mentor, he recognised the future of imaging-guided procedures.”Image-guided surgery is the way of the future.”
