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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-30 Daily Xml
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Keith and District Hospital

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (15:25): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update the house on the resourcing for Keith and District Hospital?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:25): I thank the member for Elizabeth for his interest in this important topic. I can provide an update in relation to the Keith hospital. As members would be aware, this has been an ongoing issue over the last decade or so under successive governments, on both sides of parliament, in relation to the funding of the Keith hospital, a community hospital, a private hospital, with a board appointed by the community, but which has always received funding from the state government to enable its operation.

As a private hospital, and in a challenging environment, it has often faced uncertainty in terms of its operations going forward and there have often been disputes in terms of the level of funding. Obviously that has happened over the last decade or so, and it has certainly happened over the last few years as well. There have been a number of times when there were last-minute funding agreements reached, and there was the threat of closure of that important hospital.

This is the only hospital in that significant distance between Bordertown all the way to Tailem Bend. It provides services not only to the local community, but there is also a concern in terms of that significant stretch, that distance, not having appropriate services if the Keith hospital were no longer to be there. Keith hospital is one of those hospitals that over the last 50 years, when most of the other community hospitals joined SA Health, decided not to do that and stayed outside of the then SA Health Commission.

We were elected on a platform of investing in health right across South Australia, and we made that strategic decision not to proceed with the $662 million basketball stadium and to invest—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —all that money into our health system, of which at least $100 million—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Newland, the member for Morphett, the member for Elizabeth and the member for Wright, I think, order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: At least $100 million of that was going directly to country health, and we were very proud that we announced a $52 million investment in health services across the South-East and the Limestone Coast, of which $9.75 million was designated for the Keith hospital over a seven-year period to make sure there was financial certainty for the operations of that hospital and that there were not these continual last-minute deadlines.

However, since then we have been working together with the Keith hospital board and the Limestone Coast Local Health Network. They have been working together on a new model of care for Keith, which will be the Keith and District Health Care Model. This will see the Keith hospital become part of the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, it will see the Keith hospital board become a health advisory council with those assets kept through that HAC process, as it is in a number of country hospitals across South Australia, and it will be a new model that will provide access to urgent care, with a community paramedic, nurse practitioner and allied health roles as well as possible at-home services to that community.

I really want to congratulate the board and particularly Peter Brookman on his work. This is now going to be an operation on 1 July, providing certainty to the Keith community around those services. It is being supported through public meetings by the Keith community. I would also like to thank the member for MacKillop for his work in supporting his community in relation to this important hospital for people who live in the Keith community.

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