Careers & Volunteers

About our wards at University Hospital Geelong

Bellerine Centre 6 North – General Medicine, Gastroenterology, Renal and Chronic Pain Management
Bellerine Centre 6 North (BC6N) provides a supportive environment that encourages professional growth and education in specialist areas of renal, gastroenterology and chronic pain management. BC6N is a 24-bed ward with a mix of 20 specialty medicine and general medicine beds and four beds that can be used flexibly in response to demand. The ward is located at University Hospital Geelong, only a short walk from the city's vibrant waterfront, botanical gardens, and cosmopolitan CBD.

Baxter Wing 7 – General Medicine, Endocrinology and Infectious Diseases
Baxter Wing 7 is a 32-bed unit, encompassing general medicine, endocrinology and infectious diseases. The staff are highly-skilled, professional, friendly and dedicated, taking pride in providing high quality, safe healthcare. University Hospital Geelong is located in the heart of central Geelong, minutes from the picturesque waterfront and a short drive to the Bellarine and Surf Coast. 

Heath Wing 2 – Acute Neuroscience Unit
The Acute Neurosciences Unit is a stand-alone stroke and neuroscience ward with state of the art equipment to support best practice standards and smooth patient flow at University Hospital. The ward consists of 18 beds, comprised of 16 general neurology beds, incorporating a stroke unit; two beds for extended epilepsy monitoring and, flexibility to accept rapid short stay admissions from the neurology outpatient clinic. The Department of Neurology offers a large team of neurologists who are experienced across all areas of this specialty. The acute service works closely with the Progressive Neurology Clinic (Belmont CHC); Inpatient Neurology Rehabilitation (McKellar Centre) and community rehabilitation teams across Barwon Health.

Heath Wing 7 – Medical Ward, Respiratory Diseases
Heath Wing 7 is a 32-bed general medicine and respiratory ward specialising in respiratory medicine encompassing COPD, asthma and sleep studies. The specialised multidisciplinary team manage adult patients with a wide range of medical conditions of which are complex and inclusive of multiple co-morbidities.

Heath Wing 6 – Surgical Ward
Heath Wing 6 is a 32-bed surgical unit who specialises in lower GI, upper GI and urology surgeries. Heath Wing 6 is an extension of Barwon Health’s operating services which comprises of 10 operating theatres in the main complex and two theatres and an endoscopy room in the day procedure centre, operating services perform approximately 22,000 procedures per year across both areas.

Heath Wing 5 – Plastics, ENT Vascular, Gynaecological
Heath Wing 5 is a 28 bed unit with flex beds to 36. The unit is a fast paced surgical ward with high patient turnover who specialises in ENT vascular, plastic and reconstructive surgery, gynaecological surgery and general surgery.

Baxter Wing 5 – Orthopaedics
Baxter Wing 5 is the orthopaedic unit at University Hospital Geelong. It is a 32-bed unit with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, admitting both trauma and elective patients from around Geelong and the western districts. Our orthopaedic service has a dedicated orthopaedic theatre and is actively involved in research.

Heath Wing 4 – Short Stay Surgical
The short stay service, located on Heath Wing Level 4 and is a 16-bed unit catering for surgical patients who need to remain in hospital for up to 48 hours. The ward admits post-operative patients from all surgical specialties including but not limited to ENT, general surgery, gynaecology, plastic surgery, orthopaedic, ophthalmology, vascular and urology. The service has a high patient turnover and well developed processes to support all members of the team.

Heath Wing 3 – Paediatrics, Medical, Surgical, Orthopaedics, ENT, Oncology and Psychiatric
Heath Wing 3 is a 24-bed unit and is the primary acute care facility for children and adolescents in the Barwon region. It is a very dynamic and progressive unit which has a large turnover of patients with a wide range of conditions including medical, surgical, oncology, orthopaedic and psychiatric problems. The unit promotes a partnership in care with families and parents are encouraged to room in with their children

Baxter Wing 6 – Oncology and Haematology
Baxter Wing 6 is the oncology and haematology inpatient unit of Cancer Services. The 28-bed ward cares for cancer patients from Geelong and the south west region. Core services include acute care for haematology patients, including peripheral stem cell transplants, medical oncology and radiation oncology patients. Baxter Wing 6 is a purpose built cancer ward that is a great working space but is also provides comfort and privacy for our patients.

Birdsey Wing 7 - Rapid Assessment and Planning Unit, Medical Unit
The Rapid Assessment and Planning Unit (RAPU) is a 16–18 bed short-stay medical unit for patients from the Emergency Department that need a short admission and will benefit from intensive, routine allied health input. A multi-disciplinary team approach is used to develop a plan of care for a safe and effective discharge from hospital within 48 hours to 76 hours.

Bellerine Centre 5 – Cardiac Services
Bellerine Centre 5 is a 34-bed combined cardiology and cardiothoracic unit which consists of six coronary care, 18 cardiology and 10 cardiothoracic beds. The cardiology service operates a 24hr emergency STEMI service, along with the complete range of diagnostic, medical and interventional cardiology. 

Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Barwon Health's 24-bed ICU provides tertiary critical care services to the Barwon South West region. The ICU cares for medical, surgical, and cardiothoracic adults, as well as collaborative programs to care for adult ECMO and critically ill children. The ICU supplies a central vascular access and critical care echocardiography service to Barwon Health. The ICU is actively involved in clinical research, critical care education for Deakin School of Medicine, and education and training of junior doctors and nurses. 

Emergency Department
Barwon Health is one of the largest regional health services in Victoria, providing care for approximately 80,000 emergency presentations per year. The emergency department has both an adult and paediatric short stay unit to ensure consumers receive the right care, at the right place at the right time. Under Barwon Health’s emergency model of care patients are streamed to dedicated assessment areas including fast track, adult, paediatric, resuscitation, trauma and mental health areas. Our mission is to improve access and patient flow to provide a sustainable service that ensures high quality, safe, people-focused care.

Find out about careers in mental health nursing and aged care nursing.

Meet our nurses

“Transitioning from aged care into acute as an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse in 2014, I haven't looked back! I love the challenges and the satisfaction of knowing I have provided the best possible care to the community. There is nothing more rewarding than feeling valued and appreciated by your peers and consumers alike. BC6N is a supportive team environment that listens to your contributions and ideas to better the outcomes on the ward and encourages you to further your knowledge and skills. Through the support of my team, I have commenced studying Bachelor of Nursing.” – Sanja, Endorsed Enrolled Nurse BC6N

L-R: Baxter 7 Associate Nurse Unit Manager Emma and Baxter 7 Registered Nurse Gavin

“As an Associate Nurse Unit Manager on Baxter 7 I enjoy working within a team which aims to achieve the best health outcomes for our community every day. Within that, I love being able to deliver compassionate care and being the difference in someone’s day. I feel rewarded by teaching and watching my colleagues grow within their nursing role and become more confident and competent in their ability as a nurse. Barwon Health has provided me study days to increase my knowledge as an ANUM as well as stepping up into the Acting Nurse Unit Manager role, when my manager is on leave.” – Emma, Associate Nurse Unit Manager, Baxter 7

“The forging of friendships on the ward, patient connection and seeing the difference you can make in someone’s day are all rewarding elements of working on Baxter 7. Whatever drives your passion can be found here. Baxter 7 has enabled me to grow my career and meet an array of new people and discover their stories.” – Gavin, Registered Nurse Baxter 7



“I love the unpredictable nature of patients that we have on BC6N; its challenges and how we overcome these challenges. I enjoy working with the multidisciplinary team which is always consumer focussed. The most rewarding element that Barwon Health has given me is the immense opportunity for professional growth and career development. The study days and internal training has helped me to explore my scope of practice. Barwon Health education department has given me paid academic days to complete my post graduate course. The multiple study days and training has played a crucial role in my career growth.” –  Helen, Bellerine Centre 6 North, Associate Nurse Unit Manager

What can we offer you?

At Barwon Health we harness a diverse and inclusive workforce and offer fantastic staff benefits. Some of these include:

• Flexible working arrangements
• Professional development opportunities including access to over 32 organisational curriculum offerings around awareness of self, communication, relationships and results
• Experienced clinical educators and mentors 
• Access to employee wellness facility
• Salary packaging
• Social club
• Study days
• Accrued days off (one per month for full time employees)