More people living in rural areas of the state will be able to get world-class treatment close to home with an extra $116 million to upgrade hospitals, aged care and ambulance facilities across Victoria.

Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said services at Rochester, Warracknabeal, Geelong, Shepparton and Ballarat would be the main beneficiaries of the 2006–07 Budget regional boost.

'Investing in services for country Victoria has been a major priority for the Government and that strong record is one of the Government's proudest achievements.'

Ms Pike said country health services would share in the Budget's $508 million statewide boost to hospital bottom lines to enable them to treat thousands more patients and boost emergency department care.

Country health services will also share in the $47.7 million investment in new state-of-the-art medical equipment.

'This new boost means that this year, funding to the country hospital system will be hundreds of millions of dollars higher than it was in 1999.'

Ms Pike said the State Budget delivered on the Government's promise to build a new Rochester Hospital, including a new theatre.

The $21.7 million project to redevelop the Rochester campus of the Rochester and Elmore District Health Service will include:

•          An acute hospital wing with 12 beds;

•          A state-of-the-art ambulatory care complex, including five day procedure beds, an operating theatre and emergency department;

•          A 30-bed residential aged care facility;

•          A community health centre providing services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, psychology, social work and aged care day activity services;

•          A medical clinic co-located with the community health service.

'This comprehensive range of new services will give the people of Rochester one of the best hospitals for a community of its size in the country.'

Ms Pike said the Budget was also a strong confirmation of the Government's commitment to Rural Ambulance Victoria with $2.8 million for the installation of a computer-aided dispatch system and completion of RAV's transition to the State Mobile Radio network.