Regional leaders left ‘disappointed’ by State Budget as hospital projects stall

Regional leaders waiting on stalled projects for local healthcare services have lambasted the WA State Budget, calling out the Cook Government for having “total disregard” for those living in the bush. The Budget, announced early May, boasted cash injections for a series of new and ongoing rural healthcare projects and services. An overall $405 million was allocated for regional health services, which included funding for programs such as the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme, which has been allocated $32.5m. The Bunbury Regional Hospital and the Geraldton Health Campus are among the recipients of a $839m package for infrastructure investment. The Budget also committed to some $12m towards incentives to attract nurses and midwives to work in the regions. Premier Roger Cook said the Budget would enhance regional towns to ensure they remained “great places to live, work and raise a family for generations to come”. “Regional WA props up our nation’s economy, and this Budget delivers measures that will drive regional economic growth, diversify regional economies and create jobs for our kids in the regions,” he said. However, not everyone was impressed by the recent Budget. Ashburton shire president Audra Smith said she was “disappointed” by the funding allocation for a new Tom Price hospital building, which was promised by the then-McGowan government in 2021 but has still not been built. The Budget allocated $77,000 to a new Tom Price hospital, with the bulk of those funds pushed back to 2027-28. “We had hoped, and we thought the Minister for Health Amber Jade-Sanderson would understand the importance of promises, put herself in our shoes and see the effects this outdated facility is having on our community,” Ms Smith said. The Government, which had committed more than $32m towards a new hospital in 2021, put the project delays down to cost pressures, changes in building market conditions, and struggles in finding a builder to do the job. The Ashburton shire has recently spearheaded a media campaign to publicly demand answers as to why the nearly 60-year-old hospital has not been replaced, an effort that has been criticised by Ms Sanderson. “It is disappointing that the Shire of Ashburton continues to use their ratepayers’ funds to promote untrue and incorrect claims about the Tom Price hospital,” she said. There have been growing calls for better and more consistent primary care in the regions, including from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which has seen an influx of emergency evacuations the organisation has linked to “inadequate” rural health services. Liberal MP for North West Central Merome Beard labelled the State Budget “a sick joke” for rural health. “Despite a $2.6 billion surplus built on royalties from iron ore mined in the North West this Labor Government even couldn’t bring itself to properly fund health services for families living in the regions.” Ms Beard referenced the lack of any maternity wards in Carnarvon, and the $1.5m put towards the Meekatharra hospital, an amount she called a “tiny fraction” of what was needed for upgrades promised by the government in 2017. Meekatharra shire president Harvey Nichols said while the medical care remained adequate in Meekatharra, the current hospital building, which is over 50 years old, was “no longer fit-for-purpose”. “As of yet we’re not turning people away or anything like that from our hospital, we’ve got a good GP service still. We’re just putting up with a terrible building,” he said. Mr Nichols said planning was under way to build a new hospital, which he was happy to see. However, Mr Nichols cited concerns about the project stalling, and referred to the new Laverton hospital, which has not been built despite first receiving funding for the project more then eight years ago. Mr Nichols said the current problem was not to do with funding, but the inability to find a builder to start the project. He said the Government keeps putting out tenders, but struggles to find a builder that will submit into the tender process.