Two extra paramedics are being deployed to Bendigo as part of a new Peak Period Unit to meet the demand for ambulances in the region.
As part of the initiative, the Peak Period Unit will have two paramedics available for up to 12 hours during the branch's busiest times.
Ambulance Victoria's Loddon Mallee regional director Trevor Weston said paramedics had been working "exceptionally" hard for two years during the pandemic.
"This unit in Bendigo means people who are facing life-threatening emergencies will have more ambulances available to them."
The unit is part of a $14.8 million funding package to establish 16 Peak Period Units across the state to help relieve pressure during busy periods.
Mr Weston said he thought the current number of paramedics in Central Victoria was sufficient to meet demand.
Greater Bendigo saw an 8.8 per cent increase in life-threatening Code 1 cases between July and September last year.
Ambulance Victoria attributed this to the effect of last year's lockdowns and less people visiting their GPs during lockdowns.
He said the spike in calls had put pressure on the workforce, but Ambulance Victoria was coping.
"It's not only ambulances but the health system more broadly.
"Our hospitals are facing unprecedented challenges with the number of patients they're seeing."
Whole health care system under pressure
The state government on Wednesday revealed 6,600 health workers were unavailable to work, prompting it to consider calling a Code Brown.
Bendigo Health chair Bob Cameron said the pressure on the health system was getting worse.
"Just as those pressures will increase on every service, things like supermarkets," he said.
"We're going to be in for a pretty hard time in the weeks ahead."
There are currently 20 people with COVID-19 in hospital at Bendigo Health.
There are no COVID-19 positive patients in the network's Intensive Care Unit.
Bendigo Health acting chief executive David Rosaia said the hospital had capacity for 150 to 200 COVID-19 patients.
He said like many hospitals around the state, it was struggling with workforce shortages.
"Even though workforce is a pressure point … we can look at durations of shift lengths, instead of eight hours, look at 12 hours," Mr Rosaia said.
He said there were a lot of strategies being explored to combat workforce shortages.
"The department are keen to update the healthcare worker furlough guidelines," Mr Rosaia said.
"Staff who are contacts and asymptomatic can continue to work under strict guidelines."
Emergencies only
Bendigo Health has urged residents not to attend the Emergency Department if they do not need to.
Last week, it said people were attending the ED for COVID-19 tests.
It has told people who are symptomatic and seeking a test, to stay away and instead go to the McLaren Street testing site.
Residents are also being asked to dial triple-0 only in emergencies.
Mr Weston said a large number of triple-0 calls were not emergencies and could be managed by GPs, pharmacists, or by the Nurse-On-Call telephone hotline.
"I think it's around one in four calls, that could be managed through these pathways."
