Government needs a sharp rethink on hospital
In the late 80’s; I travelled with friends from Dunedin to Naseby for an afternoon’s ice skating. One of the boys fell and broke his ankle, requiring urgent medical attention.
That was my first introduction to the Maniototo Hospital.
Back then, three things struck me.
Firstly, my mate was a rubbish ice skater.
Secondly was gratitude that there was a hospital there with the proper equipment to deal with my friends injury, given how far we had travelled from Dunedin.
Thirdly, and keep in mind this was close to 30 years ago, the hospital appeared antiquated, in fact, almost Dickensian.
The passage of time has only enforced the need to build a new hospital in Ranfurly.
Presently, the company that operates the hospital and associated rest home needs $5,500,000 to build a new facility.
It has saved around $2 million and is seeking $2 million from the community through the council to fund this.
The Maniototo Community Board has recommended that course of action to council and that matter will be discussed at our next meeting on Wednesday.
The Government has said no to any up-front financial support for the hospital, despite the best efforts of the local MP.
At the Maniototo Community Board meeting that heard submissions on the matter this week, former MP Gerry Eckhoff urged the board, and the council, to refuse to provide the requested $2 million on the basis that it sets a very dangerous precedent of local communities funding hospitals; an area that has been, and should remain, Central Government’s job.
He argued that rural New Zealand could be on a very slippery slope whereby population is the only basis for decisionmaking in matters such as this, and that factors such as geographical distance from other like facilities is not relevant.
For those of us in the south, the issue is even more exacerbated. Gerry is entirely correct. It is an absolute disgrace that Wellington is turning its back on the Maniototo and not putting any funds towards this much needed development.
One cannot help but wonder if this would be the case if the Maniototo was in a marginal seat, but that is just speculation, and I emphasise this is not aimed at current MP Jacqui Dean. I am aware that Jacqui has worked behind the scenes on behalf of the rebuild, and I can only trust that she will stay fighting for the people of this part of her electorate even though others in her party have said no to direct financial assistance. However; in a situation where the Government has abdicated its responsibility, the stark choice for council is whether to enable the community to pick up that responsibility, or leave the hospital project impossibly short of funds.
The local community has raised or pledged about $400,000 toward the build on top of what the company is putting forward, but the project will still be $900,000 short of what is needed even if the council votes to provide the requested $2 million.
It can only be hoped that Wellington has a very sharp rethink over the next few months as to what the implications could be if it retains the current position.
Tim Cadogan is the mayor of Central Otago