Wednesday, 31 May 2023

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:48): (260) My adjournment is for the Minister for Health in the other place, Minister Thomas. Recently I had the privilege of visiting Victoria’s brand new heart hospital in Clayton. I pay tribute to Professor Stephen Nicholls, director of the Monash Victorian Heart Institute and the Victorian Heart Hospital for the insightful tour of this fantastic facility. In Australia we all know how impactful heart health complications are. One person dies every 12 minutes from heart disease, six Australians have a heart attack every hour and heart disease is a leading cause of death. So it is a big deal that Australia’s first standalone heart centre is here in Victoria in Clayton’s innovation cluster. It was great to see how integrated the centre was. The hospital provides clinical cardiology services, research and education to create a centre of excellence. Since the opening of the hospital in February 1000 patients have already been treated with the highest standard of care. This means that patients do not need to move around the hospital during extended stays. Bringing the service to them makes the experience less intense for staff and patients alike. I also had the honour of meeting staff members. They are all experts in their field, and this goes for the hundreds of clinicians and researchers working there. Their breadth of experience means that this hospital can provide a range of integrated services – think prevention and intervention. They offer services like health checks and heart checks.

I remind the community of Southern Metro of the importance of regular screening for cardiovascular issues, particularly for those with a family history. This hospital will bring lasting benefits to my community, with 2150 cardiac surgeries, 108,000 consults and 30,000 emergency cardiac visits each year. With over 206 beds, the hospital will educate 300 undergraduate students, 260 postgraduate students and 20 PhD students every year. I was pleased to visit the classrooms and research facilities that these students will enjoy. As the father of a nurse and husband of a nurse, I know how these facilities will be appreciated.

I am proud to be part of the Andrews Labor government, who will always back our healthcare system. It is a government who promised, funded and delivered this hospital in partnership with Monash Health and Monash University. My adjournment to the minister is this: will the minister please inform me of what educational campaigns the Department of Health is undertaking to inform my community of Southern Metro of the importance of getting their cardiovascular health check regularly? Before I end tonight, I would like to say this: every 12 minutes someone dies from heart disease in Australia, so get tested.