Country Health Services

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:06): My question is directed to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing: will the minister update the council on country health services?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to supporting the delivery of improved health services in regional South Australia. We are delivering on our commitment to reduce the backlog in country capital works, developing the Rural Health Workforce Strategy and a range of site-specific projects such as the delivery of an MRI machine to Berri hospital.

One of the other site-specific projects is the redevelopment of the emergency department of the Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital. The government has committed $7 million to the redevelopment, the first major upgrade to the emergency department in 40 years, and will provide significantly upgraded services for the surrounding communities. People in the Murray Bridge area are a growing part of the region, with 22,000 people living the city.

The Murray Bridge ED currently has three treatment bays and the redevelopment will see that increase to seven treatment bays with two resuscitation bays. There is a suite of supporting rooms, including two consulting rooms, two procedure rooms, a dedicated waiting room and a separate quiet room for patients who are vulnerable. Overall, the emergency department will double in size.

This project will ensure that the community served by the Murray Bridge hospital will have access to a modern, fit for purpose emergency department and is literally a concrete demonstration of this government's investment in regional South Australia. Importantly, at this time the project is also providing jobs for the South Australian economy, both directly on the worksite and indirectly through associated expenditure.

I was glad to be able to be present last week, with the member for Hammond, to mark the laying of the first slab of concrete for the ED. Structural steelworks are beginning this week and I look forward to returning to Murray Bridge to see the ED completed within the next year.