Wyndham’s key advocacy group has thrown its support behind Werribee Mercy Hospital’s push for the state government to fund its planned $85 million expansion.
As reported by Star Weekly, the lack of critical-care facilities means the hospital is forced to transfer between 85 and 90 patients a month from its emergency department to other hospitals that have the capacity to provide intensive, coronary and high-dependency services.
While the Mercy awaits funding, in the past week the Coalition has announced $98 million for a redevelopment of the Northern Hospital while, if elected, Labor has pledged a $106 million upgrade of Casey Hospital.
Mercy Health chief executive Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen says he is seeking an urgent commitment from both Labor and the Coalition to the next stage of the hospital’s master plan, which would include a critical care unit, an extra six operating theatres and 56 in-patient beds.
“The only way we can continue to provide and build on our great service is through a commitment of further state government funding,” he said. “With the closest critical-care unit more than 22 kilometres away, few could argue that the Wyndham community faces some of the poorest access to health services in metropolitan Melbourne.”
In February this year, the hospital unveiled its $28 million Catherine McAuley Centre, a rehabilitation and geriatric medicine complex, and, in July, it started construction on the
$34.7 million Mercy Mental Health redevelopment.
Committee for Wyndham chief executive Chris Potaris said the hospital and the community could wait no longer for better health services.
“During the past five years, the hospital has transferred 588 patients to critical-care services at other hospitals,” he said. “It is consistently the worst-performing outer metropolitan hospital for emergency patients whose length of stay is greater than 24 hours.”
With Wyndham still Victoria’s fastest- growing municipality and with a population now in excess of 200,000, Professor Cornelissen said funding for the hospital’s expansion was desperately required. “Demand for our services will only increase in coming years with Wyndham’s population predicted to rise to more than 384,000 by 2035,” he said.
“As a community, we must be able to keep pace with the number of patients using our services and we are calling on Premier Napthine and Opposition leader Andrews to acknowledge this.”
