RSL part of consortium aiming to buy Repatriation Hospital site at Daw Park
THE RSL has launched a last-ditch bid to keep the Repatriation General Hospital open for veterans by proposing to buy the site.
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THE RSL has launched a last-ditch bid to keep the Repatriation General Hospital open for veterans by proposing to buy the site.
The Advertiser can reveal the RSL is part of a consortium that has put in an offer for the Daw Park site which the State Government is closing as part of its Transforming Health reforms.
RSL state president Tim Hanna confirmed that a number of RSL organisations with “significant expertise” in veteran and aged care and the provision of community services had joined together to make a bid.
The expressions-of-interest process to determine the future use of the site closed on Wednesday.
The Government expects to announce the successful bidder mid next year.
However, pointing to confidentiality issues, it would not comment on the specific details of any of the applicants.
Health Minister Jack Snelling would reveal only that there had been “strong interest” in the site.
Brigadier Hanna said RSL members and other veterans “think the longstanding veterans’ precinct would be best dealt with by an organisation that fully understands what their needs are”.
“In general terms, we’d seek to achieve solutions (for the site) consistent with what the Government wants — with a strong veterans’ focus.”
Brigadier Hanna said further details of the proposal for the future of the site would be revealed in due course.
It comes as a new RSL submission on Transforming Health stated its membership remained “strongly opposed” to the closure of the Repat and the move of its Ward 17 services to the Glenside campus.
The initial registration-of-interest process prompted 30 applications, eight from the health sector, four from aged care organisations and eight from community and education providers.
There was also a registration from a consortium that would bring together organisations across these sectors.
The Chapel, Museum and Remembrance Garden were excluded from the sale — and the Government has ruled out housing on the site.
Mr Snelling said feedback from veterans and the local community about how they would like to see the site used had been an important part of the process, adding: “The Repat has a proud history of serving veterans as well as the wider community and I am pleased to see strong interest in the site’s continued use. This is the next step in determining the future of the Repat site following the relocation of current clinical services to other SA Health sites.
“We will now undertake a thorough appraisal of the submissions and work with the relevant applicant or applicants to determine the future of the site.”
Opposition health spokesman Stephen Wade said the RSL move reinforced the Liberals’ view that the Government had underestimated South Australians’ commitment to keeping the Repat as a site for veterans.
He said Labor was wrong to suggest that the veterans who camped on the steps of Parliament House for 161 days in protest at the Repat’s intended closure were a minority.
“If the RSL is willing to put its money on the line for the Repat, then I think South Australians will be very interested in that and they won’t care how much money Treasury can get for the site to put in the kitty,” Mr Wade said.
He urged the Government to put a pause its plans to establish a veterans’ mental health precinct at Glenside, including a post-traumatic stress disorder centre for excellence, because there could yet be scope to keep Ward 17 on-site.
In the new RSL submission, Brigadier Hanna revealed the organisation had been left in the dark on the Government’s announcement that the PTSD centre would be a re-purposed Glenside facility.
He said the RSL had also not received any response to recommendations it put to the Government as part of a submission during its consultation on the Transforming Health reforms in February.
“To date, the RSL has not received any State Government response to its recommendations. This is extremely disappointing,” Brigadier Hanna said in the latest submission.
He also said that “much alarm” had been created among RSL members when the Government announced that the Glenside Intermediate Care Facility would be turned into the PTSD centre to replace Ward 17.
“The way this announcement was handled was disappointing. The RSL was not advised and found out from its membership,” he said.
“This was embarrassing and compromised our perceived position as a credible partner in the consultative process with the State Government.”
In August, the Government announced a $15 million veterans mental health precinct at Glenside, including “a new state-of-the-art” centre for excellence.
Then last month, it was revealed that an existing building at Glenside would be renovated and extended.
“While some members of the RSL would have liked for things to stay the way they’ve always been, I am confident that the vast majority of veterans will be impressed with Glenside’s modern facilities,” Mr Snelling said.
“The Government is working widely with veterans’ groups, including the RSL, which is on the steering committee to plan the new $15 million PTSD precinct.”
Clinical services currently housed at the Repat will transition to alternative hospital sites over the next couple of years.