MSC fears for future of town’s hospital
GROWING concerns about the future of the Mareeba Hospital has prompted local government to invite the Health Minister to give a check-up on the facility.
Mareeba Shire Council has written to Health Minister Cameron Dick asking him to come to Mareeba, with his Director General.
Council has asked for a meeting to address community concerns regarding the future of the Mareeba Hospital and the level of service it will deliver in the future.
Mayor Tom Gilmore said the community needed to know what the State Government’s intentions were for the town’s hospital.
He said Mareeba’s population had reached a level where it would no longer qualify for additional hospital funding from the Federal Government beyond October 2017, through the COAG agreement.
“The council’s concern is that the State Government will not make up the shortfall of approximately $2 million a year in order to maintain the current level of service,” Councillor Gilmore said.
“The hospital is crucial to this community and we are very concerned after seeing what appears to be a reduction in services.
“There is a high level of community concern about what is happening at the Mareeba hospital and the councillors will do whatever they can to ensure that the State does not diminish the standards of this critically important facility.
“We need to know what the intentions of the State Government are.”
Mareeba Shire Mayor Tom Gilmore.