Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the short time I have I would like to congratulate the many in the local community of Port Macquarie who have lobbied and advocated so hard for the expansion of Port Macquarie Base Hospital. There has been a successful campaign over many years both to see the $80 million in 2005 spent on the buyback of a privately funded public hospital resulting in a unique 10-year experiment in health care in New South Wales and to have the expansion take place, which has been approved through the independent health and hospital board on the back of the $1.8 billion regional round of the Health and Hospitals Fund.

This is a significant Commonwealth commitment generally and, specifically for Port Macquarie Base Hospital, the largest commitment ever from the Commonwealth to a hospital in the history of the electorate of Lyne as well as the largest funding amount ever committed to Port Macquarie Base Hospital in any form. This is a $96 million commitment from the Commonwealth matched by $14 million commitment from the state including, at the state’s end, ongoing operational and recurrent funding.

This is a significant expansion of more than 50 per cent of the size of the existing footprint. So the scale of it is large. There are twelve additional surgical beds, an expanded hot floor critical care unit, a new 30-bed medical in-patient unit, an expanded emergency department and a cardiac cath lab for heart support patients. At the same time, we are seeing this weekend the arrival of the second linear accelerator—the $4.8 million program to see over 400 cancer patients treated locally—which will take its place alongside the first accelerator, which arrived two years ago.

I am pleased also that tenders will be going out in the coming month for the 12-bed geriatric unit. That will be a new capital build between the second and third pods at the hospital and will link in nicely with the dementia plan for the mid-North Coast and the dementia day care unit that will be opened on 7 April. So there is a lot happening in the health space on the mid-North Coast, in and around Port Macquarie Base Hospital in particular. This work is welcome, and I thank all of those who have participated in this long campaign.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 8.00 pm, the debate is interrupted.