Staff at Lakes District Hospital in Frankton started moving into their new facility last week, nine years after it was first promised and eight months after ground work on the $6.5million hospital upgrade started.
They finished in time to treat the new department's first patient at 11am on Tuesday.
Charge nurse manager Jennie Burt said clinical staff got their first peek at the new wing about six weeks ago and were elated with the result.
''In the old department we gave good care, but here we can provide that care, plus a wonderful experience ... It's just given everyone a real buzz - we feel excited and lucky but, also, we deserve it.
''If you have to be sick, it's nice to have a nice place to be sick in.''
The new wing, built by Leighs Construction, has nine beds, up from seven, and another will be added as part of the second stage of the upgrade.
The department features a state-of-the-art isolation room, fitted with a negative pressure door, which sucks air back in to the room when it is opened, to trap infectious diseases and viruses inside; two high-tech resuscitation bays; a dedicated paediatric bed; elevated nurses' station which provides a view of the facility; a specific entrance metres from the helipad; and air conditioning.
Clinical staff have been training in the department over the last week, including simulations in the resuscitation areas.
Hospital operations manager Janeen Holmes said everyone thought the end result was ''amazing''.
''It's so much lighter and brighter.
''There's lots more space around every patient's bed and the staff have a raised work area which is very functional and a vast improvement on the former cramped space.''
The long-awaited 128-slice CT scanner, primarily funded by a $1,173,299 Central Lakes Trust grant, will be installed next month.
Stage two includes construction of a new waiting area, emergency shower, triage office, district nurse's station, and student doctors' office, as well as refurbished facilities in the hospital.
The project is expected to be complete by September.
SDHB strategy, primary & community executive director Lisa Gestro told a commissioners' meeting yesterday that staff feedback had been overwhelming.
''They feel so proud of that new facility,'' Mrs Gestro said.
''It is under budget and ahead of time ... it's a very good news story.''
