Heart Care for the West

Napthine appeals to the Heartland- the headline in the Herald Sun on October 9th, outlining $120million for a new cardiac hospital to be built in Clayton.

‘I will always welcome expanded medical services. This cardiac hospital is great news for the east but what about the Werribee Mercy Hospital, serving our high growth area with over 200,000 people, where the closest critical care unit is 26kms away?’ said Ms Ryan.

‘I know the Werribee Mercy has a carefully developed master plan. A master plan where the next step needed is $85million for a critical care unit. A critical care unit would enable the Werribee Mercy to assist high needs patients locally instead of sending them onto Footscray, Sunshine or the city for treatment.

Geelong with a population of 230,000 has been funded for a second hospital. Bendigo Hospital, serving a population of 110,000, is well underway with a $600million plus redevelopment. We don’t deny any of these communities’ new facilities but think we need to be vocal to ensure our fair share.

The benefits of critical level care at a local hospital is obvious. There is less risk to patients needing to be transferred on our heavily congested roads; doctors who currently spend hours trying to negotiate a patient transfer would be freed up to concentrate on patient care and having family and friends nearby helps the patient and the family at a time of high stress.

We need to remember; Werribee Mercy was established to cater for a population for approximately 90,000 residents, given Wyndham has reached 200,000+ residents in 2014 and is growing every week.

As a community we need to demand the Werribee Mercy is a priority for funding in the coming years so it can increase its capacity to provide excellent health care and is well equipped to serve our community.