Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Mildura Base Public Hospital

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:38): (130) My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Health and concerns the current financial position of the Mildura Base Public Hospital. The action that I seek is for the minister to explain why the Mildura Base Public Hospital has not been adequately funded and for her to increase recurrent funding to the Mildura Base Public Hospital to ensure it has adequate funds to deliver the best possible health care to the people of the north-west.

In September 2020 the Andrews Labor government returned the Mildura base hospital to public management, with much fanfare that the move would improve health services in the region. The government’s rationale for returning the hospital to the public system was that public management would result in the delivery of better health services to the community. At the time of the announcement of the return of the Mildura base hospital to the state, the then manager of Ramsay Health had announced a $13 million investment in the hospital, delivering a new 16-bed ward, theatre equipment, sterilisation upgrades and clinical training.

I was concerned at the time that the return to public management would make for a good media release for the government but would result in the hospital being underfunded and ignored by Labor. I raised these concerns in this place both before and after the change of management. These concerns have become a reality with the refusal of the Andrews Labor government to progress and release the Mallee health plan and even acknowledge the obvious need for a new hospital. Even worse, the latest financial statement for the Mildura Base Public Hospital, for the year ended 30 June 2022, shows that the Andrews Labor government has failed to provide sufficient operating funding to cover the operating costs of the hospital.

In the 2021–22 financial year the hospital recorded an operating loss of $2.337 million. The net financial result for the period saw the hospital record a net loss of $3.743 million. This is not a financial result a public hospital or health service would incur if the government provided sufficient and adequate recurrent funding, and the concerns held at the time of the change of management have now become the reality. Labor spruik a good game about their commitment to the Victorian health system, but the system is broken due to a systemic lack of investment by this government, and the Mildura Base Public Hospital is a prime example of this. The minister needs to explain why the Mildura Base Public Hospital has not been funded adequately and ensure the hospital will now receive the funding required to deliver the health care that Sunraysia people deserve.