The Labor Party has announced a $12.2 million upgrade to Collie District Hospital if elected in the March State election.
Shadow Health Minister and Deputy WA Labor Leader Roger Cook met with Member for Collie-Preston Mick Murray in Collie on Wednesday, February 8.
Mr Cook announced the extra $12.2 million would be added on top of the $7.8 million of works underway at the facility.
Mr Cook said a McGowan Government was committed to the $20 million upgrade to bring the facility up to a modern standard.
“What we’ve got to do in the first instance is finish off what the government said they would give back in 2011, they promised major upgrades back then, ripped it out of the budget and then put it back in at the last minute,” he said.
“Mick has been out there constantly talking about the future of the hospital and I think that’s what we have got to talk about, rather than just do patch-up, maintenance work as we go along, actually get a long-term future for the hospital and the role that it will play.”
Mr Murray spoke against the State Government’s decision to move operations from Collie District Hospital to Bunbury District Hospital, raising the move with Health Minister John Day in parliament at the August 25, 2016 assembly.
Collie Hospital was recognised as a Level 3 surgical facility at the end of last year. He said the Collie Hospital has been neglected by the Liberal-National Government between the 2013 election and today.
“The current, still-unfinished works are a start – but 39 per cent of the job does not cut the mustard.
A McGowan Government will fund the full upgrade to make sure the hospital can serve the community well into the future,” he said.
“These upgrades will provide much-needed construction jobs in the local area, providing a boost to small business and the local economy.”
Liberal candidate for Collie-Preston Elysia Harverson said the Liberal Party was working towards completing the hospital’s scheduled redevelopments.
“The refurbishment detailed in the Collie Hospital business case and promised by the Liberal-led government in 2013 is being fully delivered and is almost complete.
Labor’s claims of a “half-finished” upgrade are fanciful, with no indication as to what they are promising or how it will be paid for,” she said.
“The Liberal-led strategy has already delivered a major hospital upgrade, including state-of-the-art emergency department facilities, and will closely monitor and respond to the future health care needs of Collie.
“Additionally, since 2008 there has been a $200,000 upgrade to the Collie Hospital PathWest laboratory and a further $1.5 million invested in maintaining this important South West health facility.”
The Collie Health Services’s redevelopment officially began in April 2016, scheduled for completion this year.
