BIRTH OF NEW HOSPITAL
State gives $10m in first step towards maternity and children’s hospital at Geelong Private site
GEELONG Private Hospital is set to be transformed into a new maternity and paediatric section of Barwon Health with the State Government today announcing $10 million to examine revamping the soon-to-be defunct facility.
GEELONG Private Hospital is set to be transformed into a new maternity and paediatric section of Barwon Health.
Premier Daniel Andrews will today announce the State Government will immediately invest $10 million to identify options for transforming the soon-to-be defunct private entity into a women’s and children’s hospital.
The study will look at options to deliver additional maternity and paediatric services for Geelong families, as well as more in-patient beds, delivery rooms, operating theatres and clinics for the wider region.
“We’re planning for the establishment of a world-class women’s and children’s hospital that will give Geelong families the full suite of services they need, closer to home,” Mr Andrews said.
Healthscope confirmed on Tuesday it would close Geelong Private Hospital by the end of the financial year. More than 270 workers are affected.
Healthscope originally dismissed reports by the Geelong Advertiser last year that revealed the Private Hospital was in jeopardy, with management allegedly assuring staff at the time their jobs were secure.
The Ryrie St site has acted as a private health operation since the late 1990s, previously it was a maternity wing for the Geelong hospital.
It comes only a day after the State Health Minister Jill Hennessy confirmed 117 new positions at Barwon Health as part of a private-to-public shift.
The new positions include nursing, allied health, administration, and patient services assistants.
Ms Hennessy visited Geelong yesterday to speak directly to workers affected by the closure of Geelong Private.
Following the meeting, she said she told workers the Government would do everything it could to ensure they could find new work in the public system.
“It’s obviously devastating for the people who have given their lives to the organisation and have worked there with such passion for so long,” Ms Hennessy said.
“But what we are doing is making sure that every job we can find in the public health system, particularly at Barwon Health, is made available to the workers affected by the closure of Geelong Private.”
“We’re planning for the establishment of a world-class women’s and children’s hospital that will give Geelong families the full suite of services they need, closer to home.”
PREMIER DANIEL ANDREWS “But what we are doing is making sure that every job we can find in the public health system, particularly at Barwon Health, is made available to the workers affected by the closure of Geelong Private.”
STATE HEALTH MINISTER JILL HENNESSY