Mona Vale Hospital
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: Tonight I wish to speak about the future of Mona Vale Hospital. We know that the previous Minister for Health, the Hon. Craig Knowles, made clear statements on the John Laws and Allan Jones radio programs that Mona Vale Hospital would be upgraded and remain open. The current Minister for Health, the Hon. Morris Iemma, has stated his commitment to retain Mona Vale Hospital, but his actions do not appear to support his words.
Why has Mona Vale Hospital not received any funding of any significance for upgrades this year, whereas Wyong hospital and Gosford hospital received $22 million and $35 million respectively this year? Does this look like the actions of a government committed to keeping Mona Vale Hospital open? In my opinion it appears that the Minister is starving Mona Vale Hospital of funds, thereby contributing to its slow death.
The Minister has stated that he has been briefed concerning the purchase of Dee Why Civic Centre as an alternative hospital site. The Minister is also aware that the projected cost for that site is approximately $40 million. Given that Mona Vale Hospital is only 40 years old, I wonder whether it would make more sense to upgrade the existing hospital site rather than spend $40 million purchasing and developing the Dee Why Civic Centre? We should be committing scarce public resources to upgrading existing public infrastructure rather than spending millions of dollars on unnecessary new developments.
The Minister’s choice of Dee Why as the preferred hospital site is even more intriguing when you consider that Mona Vale Hospital is situated on nine hectares and therefore has ample room for growth in the future, whereas the Dee Why Civic Centre is on only three hectares and in an area that is already overcrowded with traffic. The hospital site at Mona Vale is in a central location and has good access both by road and helicopter.
I recently received a letter from Pittwater councillor Patricia Giles addressed to the Minister for Health. In this letter Patricia Giles referred to a story in the Daily Telegraph in which the Minister for Health pledged that Mona Vale Hospital would remain open. She asked the Minister how that assurance stacks up against the fact that he is starving Mona Vale Hospital of funds in the current budget? It appears that the Dee Why Civic Centre is a totally inappropriate site to build a hospital. Patricia Giles further said:
The Dee Why site has been judged of great heritage significance and cannot be used for a hospital. The three hectare site and location also make it an inappropriate choice.
Patricia Giles also made an important point when she said the community does not want any of the Mona Vale land sold for housing, as I suspect the Minister might have in mind. However, the value of Mona Vale Hospital can be measured not only by the first-class health care it provides but also by the local community support it generates. Last week some 250 local residents and representatives from local companies attended a fundraiser in the area. Over $80,000 was raised for equipment for Mona Vale Hospital and some hospital items were also pledged as gifts. This is a clear example of the level of community support for Mona Vale Hospital. I commend the residents for their generosity. While reading through the Manly Daily I came across a letter to the editor which sums up community anger about the Minister’s proposal. It simply says this:
We all know that the Dee Why site is not only unsuitable, it’s a never gonna happen in this lifetime project. We’d like to know why the health of the residents of Pittwater is of little consequence, but our precious land is. Surely it should be need, need, need, not greed, greed, greed!”. 02 September 2004.
