Ward 17 at Repat Hospital to move to Glenside health campus
VETERANS will be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at a new $15 million centre to be built at Glenside.
VETERANS will be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at a $15 million centre to be built at Glenside, replacing Ward 17 at the Repat.
Health Minister Jack Snelling today announced an expert panel had made the recommendation to open the centre at the Glenside Health Services Campus.
Currently, post-traumatic stress disorder services are offered at the Repatriation General Hospital, which is set for closure.
Ex-service groups — including the Colonel Light Gardens RSL and TPI Association SA, which represents permanently incapacitated ex-servicemen and women — had lobbied for Ward 17 to remain at Daw Park, where it has operated for five decades.
Mr Snelling said the physical facilities at Ward 17 were “third rate”, despite staff offering “first rate” treatment.
The Glenside centre will offer 24 beds, the same number as in Ward 17, as well as outpatient services.
It will also focus on PTSD research.
Mr Snelling said the psychological scars of conflict had “become even more common” than the physical scars and today’s veterans deserved the most up-to-date treatment.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith had previously said he would prefer Ward 17 to remain at Daw Park.
However, he said today that it was important to heed the advice of the expert panel.
“The staff at the existing Ward 17 at the Repat do a fantastic job looking after our veterans but as a Government we know we can do more to support those workers with new facilities and our veterans with state-of-the-art care,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said Glenside was not an appropriate site for the new centre and was “completely out of kilter with what the veterans want”.
“Its another betrayal for our veterans community in South Australia,” he said.
“The people of South Australia want to keep that (Repat) site open.”
Mr Marshall accused Mr Hamilton-Smith of having “done another backflip” in supporting the moving of Ward 17.
Veteran Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus, who co-chaired the expert panel, said it considered a number of sites before deciding that Glenside would enable the creation of a “one-stop-shop for veterans”.
“The site will also allow us to explore partnerships with Commonwealth and non-government organisations such as the Returned and Services League and Soldier On,” she said.
Soldier On founder Bronson Horan received treatment at the Repat after he was injured in Afghanistan in late 2008.
However, the 43-year-old said the Glenside centre would offer a reassuring environment for today’s veterans to heal.
There are plans for acute clinical services now at the Repat to move to other hospital sites in 2017-18 as part of the Government’s Transforming Health program.
The chapel, museum and remembrance garden, Orthotics and Prosthetics SA, along with Flinders University facilities and the ViTA Building will remain on site
Federal Labor MP for Wakefield Nick Champion had lobbied for the PTSD treatment centre to be built at Elizabeth as part of a $100 million expansion of the Lyell McEwin Hospital precinct.
Mr Champion had argued it would be an opportunity to make specialised services for returning soldiers available close to Edinburgh RAAF Base.