Cabrini urogynaecologist Professor Anna Rosamilia knows her way around an operating theatre.

Among the many other hats that Anna wears are Head of Monash Health’s Pelvic Floor Unit, and President of the International Urogynaecological Association. So, when the first of four new Cabrini Malvern operating theatres opened earlier this month as part of the hospital’s Next Era theatre redevelopment, Anna had seen enough operating theatres in her time to know that what she was stepping into was pretty special.

“I was very lucky to be able to do the first surgical case here in the new theatre six, and I have to say, it went very, very well,” Anna said.

“The theatres are amazingly spacious and so well lit, and the equipment’s great. It’s very exciting to have this space and new area to work in, and for our patients to recover in the beautiful new recovery room.”

The expansion also includes a large discharge lounge for day procedure patients, “with state-of-the-art monitoring, lots of comfy chairs, access to great amenities, great food and, of course, great nursing care”, Anna said.

“It’s really exciting to be part of this new expansion of the theatre complex. Well done Cabrini.”

While staff and patients will clearly benefit from the purpose-built facilities, the construction of these new theatres was about more than simply patient and staff comfort.

“Cabrini is really responding to the needs of the community in its growth through this great expansion we have,” Anna said. “There’s always pressure on beds and pressure on having access to elective theatre time, so this theatre expansion will allow us to give patients choice and quick access to theatres for procedures, and in turn, it will give surgeons choice in the space that they use and the times that they can have access to theatre.”

Anna’s area of specialty is urogynaecology, in particular pelvic floor disorders, which is seeing increased demand in our ageing community.

“We know that pelvic floor disorders have a relationship to childbirth, but the other big factor is ageing, and we know we have an ageing population,” Anna explains.

“Finally, we’re seeing this greater focus on healthy ageing. We want people to be comfortable as they age, so we’ll inevitably see increased demand for many of our specialties just based on that fact alone that our community and our society are allowing us to age well and to improve our quality of life.”

To service this increased demand, a further three operating theatres will open in coming weeks. On completion, there will be 30 operating theatres in Cabrini Malvern. The hospital also now has three cardiac catheter laboratories following the opening of a new lab earlier this month.

The Next Era theatre redevelopment will complement the new East Building at Cabrini Malvern, which will begin construction in October and be home to a new orthopaedics ward, cardiac ward and sensitively designed palliative care ward that features beautiful green spaces.

The East Building construction and redevelopment of existing Cabrini Malvern facilities will mean we can treat an additional 70,000 patients who need our care every year.

Watch the Building for the Better video on our website for a look at what’s ahead for our hospital.