Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Lara electorate health services

Ella GEORGE (Lara) (10:03): Last week I had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister for Health to the Lara electorate. To start the day we headed to University Hospital Geelong to officially open the new world-class public fertility clinic. The new fertility clinic will deliver our government’s public IVF, with a range of services including specialist consultations, diagnostic tests and ultrasounds, allowing local women and families to access free fertility treatment without having to travel to Melbourne. We know that private IVF is expensive, and it means people often need to wait and save for fertility care. This new clinic will provide 80 to 100 cycles of fertility care each year, meaning that IVF is in reach for so many more families across Geelong.

The minister then toured the new ear, nose and throat hub at University Hospital, which aims to reduce wait times for patients to see ENT specialists for minor procedures and relieve pressure on the hospital’s main operating theatres. Later on it was an honour to host a women’s health round table with the minister at Cloverdale Community Centre in Corio. This forum was a fantastic opportunity for women from Geelong’s north to share their experiences and the experiences of their communities of women’s health inequities.

We know that gender has a significant impact on health and health outcomes. Even after incredible advancements in medicines, we still understand less about the many health issues that affect women compared to men. I am so proud to be a member of the Allan Labor government, which listens to the voices of women and invests in women’s health, whether it is public IVF services, establishing 20 new women’s health clinics across the state or establishing a new women’s health research institute.