Albury-Wodonga: $558 million Albury hospital redevelopment
A delayed master plan has recommended a redevelopment of the existing Mildura hospital, with no new cash on the table from the Victorian government.
Mildura has been left as one of the only major regional centres still waiting for a hospital funding commitment ahead of the state election.
Mildura has been left as one of the only major regional centres still waiting for a hospital funding commitment ahead of the state election.
Three major Victorian regional hospitals have been calling for urgent upgrades this year, with Albury and Warragul hospitals securing commitments from both major parties ahead of the November 26 poll.
On Thursday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet co-announced half a billion dollars to redevelop Albury Hospital after a sustained community campaign. On October 3, the Victorian government committed more than $600 million to a new hospital at Warragul in West Gippsland.
A master plan for a new hospital in Mildura was due to be delivered in April this year. That date was then pushed back to “mid-year” by former health minister Martin Foley in May.
As of Friday, the master plan still had not been made public.
A Victorian government spokesperson said the masterplan had been “finalised” and recommended a redevelopment of the existing hospital site.
“We’ll now work through what that might involve including costs, sequencing, staging, decanting and other planning and compliance work,” the spokesperson said.
Independent MP for Mildura Ali Cupper said it was “incredibly disappointing” Mildurawas still waiting on the master plan months after it was promised.
“We’re Victorians too. We shouldn’t be subjected to second-rate facilities, just because we’re a long way away (from Melbourne).”
On Friday Ms Cupper said she had not seen the master plan.
“We want a world-class hospital in Mildura. Whether that can be achieved on the existing site, or whether that requires a greenfields site, I’ll leave that to the experts.”
Mildura Base Public Hospital has major structural limitations, documented by hospital administrators.
Ms Cupper said she had toured wards with a shortage of beds, and seen unwell, elderly patients sharing bathrooms and “dormitory-style” accommodation. “Bottlenecks” at nursing stations were also creating inefficiencies and frustrations among staff.
“We should be at the front of the queue for a new hospital,” she said.
National Party candidate for Mildura Jade Benham said it was “frustrating” and “upsetting” the state government had not committed to funding a new hospital for the town.
“I’m really concerned. Anyone who has been a patient in Mildura or has had to travel for specialist care knows that there is a health crisis in Mildura.
“It would be nice if the Labor government acknowledged there is a healthcare crisis in Mildura and they need to commit to funding it,” she said.
The Victorian Liberal National Coalition promised $750,000 toward a new Mildura hospital in April.
In May, more than 15,000 patients in Mildura were left without a primary care doctor when GP chain TriStar Medical collapsed.
In August, Murray Public Health Network chief executive Matt Jones described the state of healthcare in the town as “a crisis that we knew was coming” as waiting times to see a GP ballooned to more than six weeks.
On Friday, Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas announced Mildura would be one of 25 regional centres to receive 12 month funding to open a “priority care clinic”.
No timeline has been announced for when the clinic will open.
Ms Cupper said she welcomed the announcement, but “the urgent care centre is there to assist our GP sector. Primary care is not a substitute for a hospital.”
Minister Thomas was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.
ALBURY:
Albury’s 28-year-old hospital will be redeveloped jointly by the Victorian and NSW governments at a cost of $558 million.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and his NSW counterpart Dominic Perrottet made the announcement of the makeover, rather than building a state-of-the-art health facility on a greenfield site in Albury, on Thursday.
A new hospital has been the preferred option of border doctors for many years and would cost more than $1 billion to build.
Victoria runs the cross-border health service that has a population catchment of more than 300,000 people including rural communities stretching from Deniliquin in the west to Corryong in the east and towns both sides of the Murray River.
Improved intensive care, maternity and paediatric services will be consolidated at Albury with maternity services presently based at Wodonga hospital.
Construction is expected to start in 2024 and be completed by 2027 with the announcement coming ahead of next month’s Victorian election and a NSW election due in March next year.
NSW and Victoria are each investing $225 million in the Albury hospital rebuild, adding to the $108 million already committed by the NSW and federal governments.
The Victorian Coalition had pledged $300 million towards a greenfield site hospital if elected next month.
It follows recent Labor commitments to redevelop hospitals at Warragul and Wonthaggi.
But both Premiers played down the impact of looming elections in both states in the timing of the announcement.
“I’ve been privileged and I’ve been very proud to work closely with Dom over these last months,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’ve got a lot done.
“When you’ve got a decent relationship, you work hard, and have got values about supporting your people, whether they are in Sydney or Sydney Road, Melbourne, you can get things done.”
fingers crossed https://t.co/3STaUzkQ6d
— Craig Underhill (@CraigUnderhill) October 26, 2022
Mr Perrottet said: “Elections are irrelevant, whether that is Victoria’s election next month or NSW in March, it is not about that.
“This has been a long journey, we’ve worked together as two state governments to get a great outcome for the community.
“This was the preferred option by both our health teams. I can’t be clearer in relation to that.”
The newly elected Labor federal government won’t be called on to help bankroll the works in the first three stages announced yesterday.
Mr Andrews said federal Labor’s immediate priority was delivering on its election commitments.
“It’s not for state governments to run around, or indeed state oppositions, to be promising money on behalf of another government,” he said.
“They have made it very clear what their priorities are.
“We could play that game or we could just get on and get this more than half a billion dollar hospital built.”
Plans for the downgraded Wodonga hospital will be confirmed at a later date.
Join the conversation
Defence claim difficulty obtaining ‘paperwork’ in Corey Ireland case
Defence say they are facing challenges obtaining paperwork from police in the Corey Ireland court case. See what happened in District Court today.
Read more
Farmers increasingly proactive in face of lifting crime figures
More and more farmers are becoming savvy about on-farm security, as new data shows an uptick in farm theft offences.
Read more