Still waiting

We are still waiting for the Victorian Government to make a commitment to build a new hospital for West Gippsland on the greenfield site at Lardners Track.

This project needs bipartisan support from the major political parties at the state and federal level.

The State Liberal Party has made a commitment and it would be great to have a similar commitment from Victorian Labor along with support from the Federal Labor and Liberal Parties.

Ensuring our communities have access to good health services and facilities should be the focus of all political parties and be above party politics.

Building on the greenfield site is the preferred option as it will result in a modern, purpose built facility, it is the more affordable option for government - costing less than developing the hospital on the existing site, will provide good access and address the current car parking issues and allow for expansion of services, with the ability to cater for future growth and development as the population of the shire continues to grow.

Building on the current site has many compromises, for example redeveloping ageing infrastructure, limited land for car parking and for future expansion and development of additional services and will not result in a state of the art health facility that can cater for our communities health needs going forward.

Any new hospital development must have the capacity to meet our health needs for many years to come and have a long term focus, not a compromised upgrade of the existing hospital.

With the election in November 2018 we need to continue to lobby our politicians and ensure they understand the health needs of our community. Ormond Pearson, Warragul