Modbury Hospital

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:47): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the minister tell the house how the new facility at Modbury Hospital will provide better health services for residents in the north and north-eastern suburbs?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (15:47): Can I thank the member for Florey for the question and, of course, again acknowledge her longstanding dedication to the Modbury Hospital on behalf of her electorate. Last week, we reached a milestone for Transforming Health and the Modbury Hospital. With the start of construction of the new multimillion dollar building at Modbury Hospital, people in the north and north-eastern suburbs are a step closer to having more health services closer to home.

The current configuration of our health services in Adelaide doesn't reflect the population shifts towards our rapidly growing northern suburbs. Recently, I learned that only around 55 per cent of people in the northern area are treated in local hospitals.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Would the minister be seated? The Minister for Investment and Trade and the leader will cease their quarrel. Minister for Health.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: In central and southern Adelaide, around 88 per cent of patients are treated in their local area. One example is that currently up to 30 amputee patients from the northern suburbs have to go to the Central Adelaide Local Health Network for their acute and ambulatory rehabilitation every year. This number is expected to rise because of diseases such as diabetes.

Instead, under Transforming Health, Modbury Hospital will keep these people in the north, closer to home, and offer a true, comprehensive, multidisciplinary model of care. That's why investments like the new ambulatory rehabilitation centre are crucial. By building up Modbury Hospital, we can focus on elective surgeries and rehabilitation. It will enable more than 3,000 extra patients to be seen, and around 1,800 more elective procedures a year will be able to be performed at Modbury Hospital. This will give the north and north-eastern residents faster access to elective surgery and fewer delays.

The new building will include 18 treatment rooms, a gym, a hydrotherapy pool, a laboratory for analysing mobility, prosthesis services and a kitchen where clients can relearn and practise everyday tasks. Moving services also enables the Lyell McEwin Hospital to focus on emergency and complex surgery, including a comprehensive 24/7 orthopaedic trauma surgery service providing faster access to orthopaedic surgery.

I am pleased to see the government's $32 million investment in the Modbury Hospital is now under way. It will create 1,000 jobs during construction, with around 130 workers expected to be on-site at any given time, and it stands as a symbol of the government's investment in the hospital's future. Unlike some members, the government is not privatising Modbury Hospital and we are not running it into the ground: we are setting it up for a very bright future, delivering health services to more local residents.