When Raveen Chilukuri's wife gave birth, a lack of signage at the Ballarat Base Hospital made a stressful situation worse.
"I used to come in, day in and day out, a couple of times a day … and it was very difficult to find where [the maternity ward] was," Mr Chilukuri said.
Mr Chilukuri said he was not alone in his concerns, with other non-native English speakers having experienced issues with access and appropriate signage.
The 2016 census reflected there were more than 3,000 separately identified languages spoken in Australia.
Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese and Vietnamese were some of the most common languages spoken at home other than English.
Community consultation
Mr Chilukuri said he was pleased the community's request for more comprehensive maps, better signage and more prominent staff has been taken onboard.
"This brings a lot of excitement, not only for me, but whoever I spoke to in the community was very excited," he said.
"I raised this and now in this development plan they have very good options for how and where to go … better signage, whether it be digital or people who are helping out at the help desk."
More than 1,000 responses were submitted through online surveys and workshops from the Ballarat community during the consultation process, with Ballarat man Mr Chilukuri representing the South-east Asian and Indian community.
The hospital upgrades include new operating theatres, a women and children's hub, an upgraded emergency department and two entrances separating emergency vehicles from local drivers.
The first step in the project will begin in November and is expected to be complete in 2024. It includes a new central energy plant, and a support services building.
Funding for the project was announced by the state government in the 2018 budget.
Staged construction
Chief executive of Grampians Health Dale Fraser said the hospital will have an increased annual capacity to treat an additional 18,000 emergency patients and 14,500 inpatients.
"One very practical thing we are doing is building a protected walkway from our main building block to our cancer building," Mr Fraser said.
Mr Fraser said the project would be in stages to ensure the construction was minimally invasive on patients and staff.
"Working different hours, having quiet times for builders … speaking to the patients so they know what is going on, so they are aware if there is going to be a period of noise or vibration," he said.
