By Benjamin Millar
Footscray’s crumbling hospital is at risk of catastrophic failure, according to the peak body representing the medical profession.
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Julian Rait said the 65-year-old hospital is plagued by leaks, cracks and failing equipment and in urgent need of replacement.
The state government last year announced Footscray Hospital would be rebuilt from scratch, yet allocated only $50 million towards a project estimated to likely cost more than $1 billion.
The funding was flagged for a business case, design work and selecting one of three short-listed sites, but Associate Professor Rait said the lack of a clear timeline or budget commitment has staff worried the redevelopment will slip through the cracks after the state election.
“Key systems at the hospital are at risk, the problem with this is that it’s an urgent issue and unless something is done it is putting the public at risk.”
Associate Professor Rait said a failure of the ageing boilers at the hospital was just one of the potential problems that could shut it down, placing more pressure on Melbourne’s remaining hospitals than they could handle.
While welcoming the recent announcement of $562 million for an expansion of Frankston Hospital, Professor Rait said redeveloping Footscray is a far more pressing project.
He fears a lack of clearer commitment before the November election will mean the project will sit on the backburner.
Footscray resident Ken Betts, who organised a petition in 2014 calling for the redevelopment of the Hospital, said he is mobilising another fight for the urgent project.
The former Liberal state candidate said Footscray falls through the cracks as Labor takes a safe seat for granted and the Liberal party has little interest in the area.
Western suburbs Greens MP Huong Truong has been running a ‘Fix Footscray Hospital’ campaign while Liberal MP Bernie Finn raised the matter in Parliament last week, saying the hospital was in “a disgraceful physical condition.
Health minister Jill Hennessy said the state government is still deciding upon a site for the new Footscray Hospital as part of a “major pipeline” of hospital projects across the west.
“Only Labor invests in hospitals and health care,” she said.
“Under the Liberals, it’s a return to cuts, closures and privatisations – and that will hit patients hard.”
