$250 Million for what?

The NSW Government has spent $250 million on a brand new Griffith Base Hospital, yet they’ve only added 7.3 new staff.

That’s completely inadequate for our regional Base Hospital growing medical needs.

To make matters worse, when Health Infrastructure and MLHD were designing the hospital, they failed to properly consult the clinicians on the ground. As a result, we have only two operating theatres when we should have four. Right now, there’s only funding to run 1.2 theatres, despite having seven surgeons on board. If this isn’t fixed, we risk losing essential specialists and services.

Griffith Base had 24/7 emergency orthopaedic surgery capabilities which was stripped along with other vital medical services.

MLHD/s response that they are recruiting now is not a sufficient answer and the comment “the new Hospital wont have less beds or services” than the old stripped Hospital is also inadequate.

This is exactly why MLHD cannot be trusted to manage Griffith’s healthcare. Bureaucrats in Wagga are making decisions that don’t reflect the needs of our community. We need our own Griffith Health District with its own budget and management—so local experts, not distant administrators, determine our healthcare future.

I will keep them accountable and ensure Griffith Region gets the funding, staff, and services it deserves and needs. This community won’t stand for second-rate healthcare.