Ten new beds open at Repat Health Precinct under State Government plan to revive closed hospital site
The planned reactivation of the Repat Hospital will include a further 10 beds, in addition to the 20 for long stay patients last year.
Ten new beds will open at the Repat Health Precinct on Tuesday, a move aimed at helping long stay patients who are transitioning back home or to community services.
Premier Steven Marshall made the announcement on Monday, which comes as part of a redevelopment to reactivate the site after it was closed by the former Labor state government.
The 10 new beds are in addition to 20 for long stay patients opened at the Repat last year.
Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade said the latest beds would also help manage an increase in hospital demand, which comes amid renewed concerns about ambulance ramping.
Mr Wade said the renewed Repat would be “a critical part of SA’s future health system”.
“We know that patients can wait for months in hospital for out-of-hospital support,” he said.
“These 10 beds will provide a more appropriate environment for the transition of care.
“The beds will also assist in managing demand and improving bed availability for acute patients within the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network over the next few months.
“This is all part of our investment in our clinicians, services and world-class infrastructure to better support the health and wellbeing of all South Australians.”
Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said the State Government was slashing beds across SA’s hospital network, and claimed “ramping has doubled since the Liberals took power”.
“These 10 temporary beds don’t go anywhere near making up for the Marshall Liberal Government’s bed cuts,” he said. “They’ve already cut more than 40 beds and there are another 170 bed cuts in the pipeline thanks to corporate liquidators KordaMentha.
“They are giving with one hand and taking 20 times more with the other.”
Last week, Mr Wade revealed KordaMentha have saved $105 million in six months while assisting with the operation of the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.
That follows a $300 million per year shortfall inherited form the former government.
Mr Wade insisted: “Initiatives that are saving money are also delivering better patient outcomes, which is the focus of everything we do”. “Wasting money means less services and more patients waiting to get the care they need,” he said last week.