Outdated Footscray Hospital is “shameful” and should be “bulldozed and rebuilt”, State Parliament has been told.
Western suburbs upper house Liberal MP Bernie Finn called on Health Minister Jill Hennessey last week to provide the funding to rebuild the hospital from the ground up.
Star Weekly reported recently that $17 million was allocated in the state budget to help renovate three wards and plan future redevelopment works.
But western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland labelled the funding a “Band-aid measure”, given that a briefing document prepared for the state government in 2014 warned that more than $300 million needed to be spent at the hospital to keep up with growing demand.
Mr Finn told Parliament the funding for Footscray Hospital was “a mere drop in the bucket” compared to what was needed.
“I recall early in my tenure as a member for Western Metropolitan Region visiting Footscray Hospital and being absolutely shocked at what I saw and experienced,” he said.
“Despite the best efforts of doctors and the nurses, who all do a wonderful job, what they have to work with there is not a lot better than what one would see in a Third World country.”
Mr Finn said the hospital had long outlived its usefulness and nurses and doctors were working under difficult circumstances “because of the state of this decrepit hospital”.
“That’s something I think we should be ashamed of, that we would have a hospital serving a community which, quite frankly, should be bulldozed and rebuilt,” he said.
Mr Finn called on Ms Hennessey to allocate the money necessary to rebuild the hospital.
Short term solution
Treasurer Tim Pallas told Star Weekly the state government recognised the urgent need for the hospital to be rebuilt.
“We put money into planning and upkeep and maintenance, and we know that’s a short-term solution,” he said.
“We need plans for development of the facility completed. We need to do what we can as soon as possible.”
Mr Pallas said the government wouldn’t put money into planning unless it was serious about delivering.
“Once the hospital’s ready to go with a developable plan, then I think we’ll be very keen to get on and do it,” he said.
