SA Election 2018: Labor Government promises to build Eye Hospital in Adelaide CBD
THREE years after the State Government promised a statewide hospital specialising in eye care, it has finally decided to build it in the Adelaide CBD.
SA 2018
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THREE years after the State Government promised a statewide hospital specialising in eye care, it has finally decided to build it in the Adelaide CBD.
Premier Jay Weatherill has committed $30m, if Labor is re-elected later this month, to create a health hub next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital at the western end of North Tce.
It would house the Adelaide Eye Hospital, a walk-in clinic for patients with chronic diseases, such as lung conditions, and nurse-led clinic treating minor injuries, such as lacerations.
Mr Weatherill said the creation of the hub in the city’s biomedical precinct should also make room to move the Chest Clinic outpatient services into the RAH.
Currently, patients with lung conditions are being forced to travel up and down North Tce to visit the Chest Clinic at the old RAH site, putting them at greater risk of dangerous infections.
Mr Weatherill said the decision to base the eye hospital in the city was made on the advice of doctors.
It was first promised in early 2015 as part of the Transforming Health reforms and was initially to be hosted at Modbury Hospital.
That plan was dumped in October, 2015, after opposition from eye health groups concerned that people with low vision faced public transport difficulties getting to Modbury.
Eye specialists have long pushed for a city site.
Government officials had repeatedly indicated an announcement on a location was imminent.
Mr Weatherill said the new hub would allow for more elective day surgeries “meaning fewer cancellations and shorter waiting times” for procedures such as cataract surgery.
Royal Society for the Blind executive director Robert Dempsey said there was great demand for the services of an eye hospital in Adelaide.
“For people who suffer serious eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, it has a profound impact on their life,” he said.
“This new facility, especially in this precinct, will be a great asset ... to people suffering with eye diseases.”
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