Hospitals

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, can you inform the house how many hospital and healthcare sites you have visited in the past few months?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:56): It is important that I get out and about to visit our hospitals on a regular basis, to hear directly from our patients as well as doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health staff about their experiences in our health system, and I thank the member for Little Para for this very excellent question.

Just this week, I was with the member for Little Para visiting Lyell McEwin Hospital, where we got to see a sneak peek at the second cardiac catheter lab currently being built. Many more cardiac patients in the north will be able to be treated closer to home. We also visited medical subspecialties ward 2D which, last week, saw its first ever renal inpatients due to the significant transfer of services to the Lyell McEwin Hospital that started under Transforming Health last month.

Last month, I opened the newly refurbished renal dialysis unit at Maitland Hospital. This $635,000 refurbishment has increased the unit's capacity from a two to a four-chair unit and now provides a larger space for patient care. The member for Goyder joined me on that occasion. I took advantage of the trip also to visit some of our other health sites on the Yorke Peninsula. In Port Broughton I was able to meet with local health staff and hear about their local healthcare concerns. I had the chance to go to Yorketown Hospital. If I remember correctly, you were born in Minlaton or Yorketown, member for Goyder?

Mr Griffiths: Yorketown. My children were born there.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: His children were born at Yorketown Hospital. We were able to do a walk around and meet the staff. I even met a long-lost cousin at the Yorketown Hospital, which was wonderful. My cousins, of course, live in Minlaton, the Bennett family. They are not supporters of this side of politics, I am afraid, Mr Speaker, but I don't think there are many people in the member for Goyder's electorate who are supporters of this side of the house.

The Hon. J.R. Rau: There was a time.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: There was a time, when copper was being mined at Moonta, that we did have; and I think the first Labor majority Premier of South Australia was the member for Moonta. As part of our government's country cabinets, I recently visited Lameroo District Health Service and Pinnaroo Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, as well as staff and volunteers from Bordertown Hospital.

Of course, in the wake of the extreme devastating weather events which hit our state in late September, I visited Port Lincoln Hospital with the Premier. The Premier and I were impressed to see how they, along with staff at all our Country Health sites, played such a pivotal role in supporting their local communities during such a difficult time. More recently, in late October, I joined the members for Florey, Newland and Torrens to visit an upgraded ward in the new rehabilitation building at Modbury Hospital, both part of Transforming Health's $32 million investment at that hospital. Of course, we know this investment created 1,000 jobs during construction, with around 130 workers on site at any given time.

Clinical directors showed us our hardworking clinicians are already using the new kitchen and therapy room to help people relearn the skills they need to regain independence and get home sooner. We had the chance to walk around the fantastic new rehabilitation centre being constructed at Modbury Hospital, which features a gym, hydrotherapy pool and a therapy garden.

The following day I visited the Flinders Medical Centre for a walk around with the member for Fisher (her old stomping ground) to chat to staff and patients in the emergency department, the ICU and on the wards about some of the changes that are on the horizon. I have to say that the member for Fisher was in her element as she introduced me to her former colleagues and showed me around, as I said, her old stomping ground.

We had a glimpse of the construction site, the $185.5 million new rehab and palliative care building, multilevel car park and brand-new older persons mental health unit at the Flinders Medical Centre. This investment has seen the creation of about 1,000 jobs throughout construction and more than 200 workers on site every day. In the next fortnight, I will be visiting Whyalla, Booleroo and Roxby Downs hospitals as part of the government's next country cabinet and, of course, I look forward to visiting many more of our health and hospital sites in the future.