The next round of Victorian hospital funding announcements would ideally include $15 million for Wangaratta hospital, if a campaign for a major upgrade is successful.
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The hospital experienced a 7.56 per cent increase in patients to its wards and 4.15 per cent increase in people coming through its emergency department in 2015-16.
Now the plan is to start a major $21m, two-stage redevelopment.
The works would increase the number of acute medical beds by 22, up to 49, double the emergency care unit from four to eight beds, and include renal dialysis chairs, one sub-acute bed and 10 emergency department cubicles.
Hospital management has been in discussions with the Victorian government about the project for months, but Ovens Valley MLA Tim McCurdy in Parliament this week heaped on the pressure to commit $15.1m for stage one.
“The health service, run by Margaret Bennett, is a very active and forward-thinking health service,” he said.
“When you live on the Hume Highway there are no other health services that can support some of the major accidents that happen along there, from north of Melbourne through Wodonga.
“So Wangaratta plays a very integral part in terms of the heavy lifting for the events that take place on the Hume Freeway.
“That is why it is critical Northeast Health Wangaratta is brought up to speed.”
Sophie Mirabella raised the need for funding in April last year when she said she would have been able to secure $10 million in federal funding.
The Victorian government’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee last year warned all hospitals would need an increase in funding for extra services and facilities to cope with growing populations and patient demand.
Mr McCurdy said the North East region was particularly growing and Health Minister Jill Hennessy was supportive of the need for funding during their “good, solid discussions”.
“I certainly hope that in the near future, in the next round of funding applications, we might be able to see some money headed our way,” he said.
“I urge the minister to keep digging deeper and look for that $15 million that we need for stage one of this redevelopment.
“It has got a 24/7 emergency department that offers an extensive range of health care and it has residential aged-care facilities.”
