Bacchus Marsh and Melton Regional Hospital will receive an extra $2.59 million to help it deal with population growth.
State Health Minister David Davis said the funding, announced last
Wednesday, was a 6.7 per cent boost to the $41.4 million already
provided to Djerriwarrh Health Service, which includes the hospital,
Melton Health, Grant Lodge and community health centres.
Djerriwarrh chief executive Bruce Marshall (pictured) said the
funding came after a record number of births at the hospital, a
significant increase in the number of theatre procedures and more
presentations at the service’s urgent-care facilities. The hospital
delivered 1016 babies, treated 13,730 in-patients and conducted 3642
operations in 2012-13.
“This funding ensures that the health service is well positioned
to be able to continue to deliver an expanding range of services,” Mr
Marshall said.
He said another record number of births was expected this year, along with increased theatre procedures.
“This will provide much-needed resources to respond to the
expanding population of the city of Melton and the Shire of Moorabool,”
he said.
Mr Davis said the funding was designed to put long-term health and hospital services “on a firmer and more rational footing”.
In February, the Weekly reported that the hospital received $386,000 from the federal
government after earlier being forced to trim services when funding was
stripped from its budget as part of a dispute between state and federal
governments.
The hospital estimated more than 200 local patients would be
forced to wait longer for elective surgery, with in-patient bed closures
and operating theatre capacity reductions scheduled for March 29 to
April 14.
The Liberal candidate for Ballarat, John Fitzgibbon, said the
federal government had admitted it was responsible for the “blame game”
by reinstating the funds. Ballarat Labor MP Catherine King called on the
state government to reinstate $616 million she said it had cut from its
health budget.
