By Charlene Macaulay
Werribee Mercy Hospital is not on a Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority list of possible future projects, despite calls to expand the hospital.
Mercy group chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said he was disappointed Werribee Mercy had not made the cut on the list of 48 health and hospital projects being considered for funding.
The list was shown as part of a presentation given at the VHHSBA Industry Forum earlier this year.
Adjunct Professor Cornelissen said the state government “must prioritise the ongoing development of Werribee Mercy Hospital”.
“We need to ensure the so-called ‘west’ is not seen as a single homogenous region,” he said.
“Developing services in one growth corridor will not address the need for services in the other. Our community should not be disadvantaged because of socio-economic or socio-political reasons.
“We congratulate and thank the state government for their funding commitment to Melbourne’s south west in recent years but this investment alone is not going to adequately address future needs.”
As reported by Star Weekly last month, about $1 billion is needed to get Werribee Mercy to the size and capacity it needs to cater for Wyndham’s burgeoning population.
A Committee for Wyndham analysis found that Wyndham has the lowest number of beds compared to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, despite having the highest population.
Based on council and hospital figures, there are 1569 hospital beds catering for Geelong’s population of 246,036, almost three times the number of beds available in Wyndham (533 beds for 257,028 population).
Committee for Wyndham chairman Peter Mayall said Wyndham was not being treated fairly.
“Wyndham’s hospital needs have not been met and, it seems, not even planned for,” Mr Mayall said.
