State Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman has opened the door to a full upgrade to the Yass District Hospital.
Upon being asked about the recent push for upgrades to the hospital within the Yass community at the official opening of the Yass Ambulance Station last Friday, Tuckerman was in agreement with the community and vowed to continue to monitor the health and population data of the region.
“I absolutely agree!”
“We have to start planning for the future and make sure our data that’s being captured is correct, and the upcoming census will help with that.”
“I’ll be certainly keeping an eye on that,” said Tuckerman.
The local member also acknowledged that the recent $8-million-dollar upgrades don’t go far enough.
“Is that enough for the future? No, I don’t think it is. We all know that Yass is growing. We need to make sure that our infrastructure is keeping up with that growth.”
The answer comes after Yass Valley Mayor Rowena Abbey made a submission to the New South Wales Parliament Rural Health Inquiry on the 13th of January, advising them on the council’s predictions of population growth over the next 15 years.
In the submission, she estimated 10,000-person population growth in the Yass Valley by 2036 and acknowledged the urgent need for improved medical services for maternity, oncology and dialysis.
“Council has been advocating for a full clinical services review of current and future health needs for our fast-growing community.”
“This will ensure that any future planning for services as well as infrastructure are clearly embedded in the 20-year plan,” she said.
Rebecca Duncan, a founding member of the working group “New Yass Hospital with Maternity”, which delivered a petition with 2000 plus signatures to previous state member Pru Goward, was pleased with Tuckerman’s comments, acknowledging them as a positive step in the right direction.
“I’m really glad that our local member and our Mayor agree and have come on board with what we’ve been saying loudly for two years that our rapid growth is obvious to all and needs a well-planned response for our bulging population.”
“The NSW Governments’ planning department are just wrong when they predict our population will be 17,100 in 2040.”
‘It’s more than that now,” she said.
Rebecca particularly focused on the housing shortage and how the Yass health system was likely to experience the same fate eventually should upgrades not be made in the near future.
“We already have a housing shortage, and soon we will have a health crisis if the government doesn’t review its demographic modelling urgently for Yass Valley.”
“Council predicts 20,000 people by 2023, and with more young families escaping Sydney and Canberra, choosing Yass more than ever, full maternity services should return to Yass Hospital on those numbers,” she said.
Yass District Hospital is a twelve-bed hospital with four emergency beds and a medical imaging department. There is no surgery capacity.
Max O’Driscoll
Further update since our print deadline…
President of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, John Hall declared yesterday afternoon that ‘Australia has a bushbaby battleground’ at a parliamentary doorstop interview ahead of the Association’s annual meeting with federal politicians and medical leaders including Mark Coulton MP (Federal Minister for Regional Health) Professor Ruth Stewart (National Rural Health Commissioner) and President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), Dr Vijay Roach.
The Association President described the event’s purpose to ‘explain the critical role that maternity units play in rural communities, and the urgent need to protect and reopen birthing services, highlighting the benefits to mothers, babies, families and the entire community.’
“Rural maternity services are key to providing quality medical care close to home for the entire
community and they must be protected, supported and reinstated where necessary.”
“Access to local maternity services sits alongside a patient’s access to a regular GP, emergency care and inpatient hospital care as a basic human right,” Dr Hall said.
The Rural Doctor’s Association President went on to say the issue is one of both state and federal government responsibility.
“While a genuine commitment by state governments is the catalyst needed to save existing maternity units from closure, and even re-open some units, the Federal Government also has an essential role, through its hospital funding agreements with the States, and its role in ensuring there is the skilled
health workforce being trained and supported to deliver these services.
“We need the Commonwealth to move quickly – more quickly than they are now – with the wider
rollout of the National Rural Generalist Pathway, to deliver more Rural Generalist doctors with
obstetric and anaesthetic qualifications into the rural communities that need them.
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