THE State Opposition claims the development of Albany’s new $135 million hospital might not proceed unless private enterprise is involved.
It says a $65m “black hole” in capital works funding will have to be filled by private investment.
Shadow Health Minister Roger Cook said nothing had changed since the underfunding was discovered during a Budget Estimates Committee hearing in Parliament in June.
“Documents gained under Freedom of Information by Labor reveal that the Department of Health has only budgeted $135m to rebuild Albany Hospital despite acknowledging that the project may cost in excess of $200m,” Mr Cook said.
The State Government announced last week it had called for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to help build the hospital and provide a variety of services.
Health Minister Kim Hames said there was a potential contribution to the capital cost, as well as pharmacy, medical imaging, chemotherapy, renal dialysis and specialist clinics.
The Opposition has also claimed that a private component at the hospital would leave many local residents on long waiting lists for treatment.
Albany MLA Peter Watson said any privately-run services would need to make a profit and he was concerned the hospital would change the way it dealt with the public.
“Does that mean that the rich people on private health cover will get first preference over people off the street?” he said.
“That has always been the concern of the Labor Party about privatising.
“When you have private health services, they run as a business so you won’t get the same service as a normal hospital.”
Mr Watson said the call for private involvement proved Labor’s long-held claim that $135m was never going to be enough to build a new health facility.
“We said that during the election campaign, and Mr Partington (Liberal candidate for Albany) came out and called me a liar,” he said.
Mr Watson said the Labor Government had considered a private component of the revamped hospital, with St John of God as an addition.
“That is completely different to what this is, part of the heart of the hospital,” he said. “St John of God Health Care was going to be a private hospital on the campus grounds. They were going to provide extra surgeons and beds.”
Dr Hames said the hospital would proceed with or without private involvement.
“This government is going to build a new hospital. There is no doubt about that,” he said.
Dr Hames said he was confident there would be private involvement after an industry briefing on Tuesday which was well attended by potential proponents to the EOI.
He said the EOI was an important step in providing a modern and expanded health care service close to home for more than 50,000 Great Southern residents.
“This is one of the biggest public hospital developments ever undertaken in regional WA and we are urging private sector organisations to register their interest early to be part of this project,” Dr Hames said.
“We want to create a modern, contemporary and innovative Albany Health Campus that brings together inpatient and specialist hospital-based services, with a range of outpatient services, for the seamless care of patients in a ‘one-stop-shop’ service.”
Dr Hames said that an in-depth economic analysis, undertaken earlier this year by the firm Ernst and Young, highlighted the potential for a range of private sector opportunities to be incorporated into the hospital’s development.
This included specific market “sounding exercises” which supported the view that there was significant private sector interest in the redevelopment.
The EOI’s close on August 19.
Dr Hames said that once the level of private sector interest in the project was known, planning for the project would focus on maximising the combined public investment and private sector commitment.
A building contractor is expected to be appointed between April and September 2010.
The finalisation of construction costs and contract details and commencement of preparatory site works will then happen around October.
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