LABOR TO KICKSTART CONCORD HOSPITAL STAGE 2 REDEVELOPMENT - SUNDAY, 14 APRIL 2019

14 April 2019

A Shorten Labor Government will kickstart Stage 2 of Concord Repatriation General Hospital’s redevelopment with a $50 million investment in this vital facility.

Concord Hospital provides crucial services to people who live in the Inner West. But its main clinical building was built in 1941 and is in urgent need of redevelopment.

Concord is the oldest building of any teaching hospital in Sydney.

This aging infrastructure is now undermining the efforts of doctors, nurses and other staff to provide contemporary care.

And the Liberals in Canberra and Sydney have made no commitment to the main clinical building, which houses all acute services.

That’s why a Shorten Labor Government will invest $50 million to help redevelop the main building and kickstart Stage 2 of the redevelopment.

Labor believes in more money for our local hospitals, not bigger handouts to multinationals.
 

While Labor will work with local experts to plan Stage 2, it is expected to include:

  • An integrated Emergency Department, ED Short Stay Unit and Medical Assessment Unit, with a co-located Radiology Department and expanded medical imaging capabilities.
  • New operating theatres to accommodate advances in minimally invasive surgical procedures and image-guided interventions.
  • New facilities for medical procedures (including cardiac catheter lab, renal dialysis and endoscopy suite).
  • A new and expanded ICU with direct access to helipad for ICU and Statewide Burns Service.
  • Additional 150 acute inpatient beds to meet the rapidly growing population in the Concord catchment.
  • Adequate facilities to accommodate planning for the introduction of paediatric and obstetric services to respond to the increase in the younger population within our local area. 
  • The co-location of ED, Radiology, Intensive Care/High Dependency Unit and Operating Theatres in the new facility will provide for safer management and transport of critically ill patients, and for more efficient and effective use of technology.
     

This investment will be funded through Labor’s $2.8 billion Better Hospitals Fund.

Labor can pay for better local hospitals because we will make multinationals pay their fair share and close tax loopholes used by the top end of town.

Scott Morrison is spending billions on handouts to the top end of town while cutting money from local hospitals.  
 
As Treasurer, Scott Morrison cut funding from health while trying to give an $80 billion tax handout to big business, including $17 billion to the big banks.

And Morrison will cut even more money from hospitals if the Liberals win the election.  
 
Families in the Inner West are sick of the Liberals’ cuts and chaos. They want investment in their hospitals.

That’s what a Shorten Labor Government will deliver.