THE Swan Hill community has welcomed last week’s announcement that construction of Swan Hill District Health’s (SHDH) new emergency department is set to begin this month.
Swan Hill Acting Mayor Bill Moar said the council had worked hard over the past five years in advocating for a new hospital and was excited to see the first stage of the redevelopment get under way.
“This redevelopment will give our residents access to world-class health care, which they deserve,” Cr Moar said.
The $48.7 million project is projected to be completed by 2025, and is expected to provide nearly 150 jobs at its peak.
While job creation is meant to be positive for the community, it can also be quite daunting in the face of staff shortages like those seen over the past few months, and is of concern to Member for Mallee Anne Webster.
“It doesn’t matter what sector you are talking about – whether it is harvest or whether it is health care, education, or indeed in trades and building – workforce is the critical pressure point that everyone is feeling and experiencing, so hopefully it won’t prohibit or delay the process of the rebuild,” Dr Webster told The Guardian.
Dr Webster said health care had always been a key priority, and she would continue to advocate rebuilding the rest of the hospital.
“Each of us should be able to access quality health care wherever we live,” she said.
“Now clearly I’m not talking about having a St Vincent’s Melbourne in Swan Hill, that’s not going to happen.
“But there has to be a level of tertiary hospital care that is provided and meets the needs of this community.
“And at this point in time there needs to be significant investment in order for the people of Swan Hill and surrounds to be able to have the adequate quality of care that they need.”
The Swan Hill Needs a New Hospital committee, chaired by Cr Les McPhee, has been campaigning for a new hospital since 2018, holding meetings, running a T-shirt campaign and presenting a petition with 3408 signatures to Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh.
“It is very pleasing to see that it is finally coming to fruition,” Cr McPhee said.
“Right throughout this whole campaign, we have always said that the staff do a wonderful job in a building that is not fit for purpose.
“I think health should be on needs basis, not a political basis, and Swan Hill needs a new hospital.”
But while the emergency department redevelopment is welcomed by the committee, Cr McPhee wants to make sure redevelopment doesn’t abruptly stop after this stage.
“We want to make sure that future funding comes forth prior to the cranes and workers and everything leaving the site, which will save costs in the long run,” Cr McPhee said.
He warned that while the Swan Hill Needs a New Hospital committee has been quieter lately because of the first lot of funding, it was anxiously on the lookout for the State Government to commit to funding redevelopment of the rest of the hospital.
“If the next round of funding doesn’t come forth, we will become noisy again like we did in the past,” Cr McPhee said.
“We could mobilise at any time if there is a need for that to happen.”
