Does being in a 'safe seat' influence whether your hospital gets an upgrade?

Jacinta Allan will seek re-election as Victorian premier in November. (ABC News) Advocates say regional hospitals in so-called "safe seats" are being overlooked for funding due to a lack of political appetite from the state government. There are active campaigns to secure funding for public hospitals at Mildura, West Gippsland, Hamilton and Daylesford. A political analyst says Victoria should have an independent infrastructure authority to allocate funding on a needs basis. Link copiedShareShare articleDoes the political landscape in regional Victoria determine whether your local hospital gets money for an upgrade? Advocates across the state say run-down or outdated facilities are being snubbed for funding due to the area being in a "safe seat" or "lacking political relevance". As Victoria approaches a state election in November, there are calls for state funding to be allocated by an independent body free of political interference. In 2022, Western District Health Service's then-chief executive Rohan Fitzgerald led efforts to secure state government funding to upgrade the aging Hamilton Base Hospital, a 3.5-hour drive west of Melbourne. Despite an impassioned public plea from staff, the calls for a $32 million upgrade fell on deaf ears. Mr Fitzgerald no longer works at the hospital but said the upgrades were still desperately needed. Rohan Fitzgerald ran the Western District Health Service for 10 years. (Supplied: Western District Health Service) "It's heart-breaking … and distressing, not only for the staff, but for the community as well." Mr Fitzgerald, who unsuccessfully stood for the Liberal Party in the 2008 by-election in the federal seat of Gippsland, said he believed Labor had no political appetite to commit money to the project because Hamilton was in Lowan, a seat held safely by the Nationals since it was re-established in 2002. "Lowan is a Nationals heartland, which is fine," he said. "But surely we've got to look over these political gains that are played by both sides of politics." The Coalition promised to contribute $17 million towards the Hamilton hospital upgrade if it won the 2022 state election. Management at the Western District Health Service says interim upgrades are not a long-term fix. (Supplied) The health service's current chief executive Rowena Clift said it was funding its own $4 million upgrade to the emergency department as an interim measure. "It is not a substitute for a full redevelopment, which is needed to meet current and future demand," Ms Clift said. It's a similar story at the Mildura Base Public Hospital, where staff say the hospital needs an extensive upgrade to handle growing demand in the north-west Victorian regional city. In 2021, the Labor state government spent $2 million on a feasibility study for a full redevelopment and hinted a new hospital was on the cards, but is yet to release a master plan or commit funding to a redevelopment. Build The Base campaign spokesperson and Mildura Mayor Ali Cupper said she believed a lack of "political relevance" was behind the lack of funding for a full-scale redevelopment. Labor has never won the Mildura electorate. It has swung between the Liberals, Nationals and independent MPs since the 1950s, with Cr Cupper holding the seat as an independent from 2018 before losing to the Nationals in 2022. Ali Cupper is campaigning for hospital funding in Mildura. (Facebook: Ali Cupper) "When you're politically relevant, you're in a strong bargaining position to secure big ticket infrastructure. "When you're not competitive, or when you're an opposition MP, it can be a lot harder." The hospital was brought back into public hands in 2020 after 22 years of private operation and since then, the Victorian government has funnelled $30 million into the facility. Mildura Base Public Hospital is more than six hours north-west of Melbourne. (ABC News: Wade Stephens) Ahead of the 2022 state election, the Coalition promised $750 million for a new hospital in Mildura if it won. Mildura Base Public Hospital was approached for comment. In central Victoria, two side-by-side electorates have seen vastly different hospital funding outcomes. Labor hung on to the marginal seat of Ripon last state election, with the Victorian government spending $115 million to upgrade the Maryborough Hospital in 2021. Meanwhile, just over the electorate border in the safe Labor seat of Macedon District, Daylesford locals have given up on hopes that their 160-year-old hospital will be rebuilt any time soon. Community members have given up on a campaign to redevelop Daylesford Hospital, pictured in 2022. (ABC News: Bridget Rollason) Labor has held Macedon since 2002, with former Victorian health minister Mary-Anne Thomas in the seat until her retirement this year. The Labor state government provided $6.14 million to upgrade the Daylesford hospital's operating theatre in 2021, but community pleas for a $75 million rebuild of the hospital

Does being in a 'safe seat' influence whether your hospital gets an upgrade?

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Does being in a 'safe seat' influence whether your hospital gets an upgrade?

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