A Rebecca White Labor government will build a new public hospital, as a dedicated public surgery and specialist centre in Hobart to help ease Tasmania’s health crisis.
$160 million has been budgeted to purchase the land in New Town where the Tasman Private Hospital was initially proposed, and build the hospital by 2027.
The hospital will allow thousands of public patients to receive elective surgery sooner in the public system. Once fully operational there will be over 13,000 procedures completed each year at the hospital.
The plans for the hospital allow for up to eight operating theatres and up to 24 overnight beds.
As a dedicated day surgery centre without emergency surgery diverting health workers, the hospital will make a real difference to public patient waitlists, and the thousands Tasmanians who are waiting in pain for months and years at a time for much needed surgery.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the new hospital was part of Labor’s commitment to repairing Tasmania’s broken health system after 10 years of the Liberals.
“Labor is serious about repairing Tasmania’s public health system after 10 years of the Liberals,” Ms White said.
“We know that our current health infrastructure is stretched to the absolute limit, and we need more capacity.
“We’ll work closely with the Department of Health to determine the specialities offered, but the site is planned to include sub-acute care, dedicated specialist care and day surgery, operating 9-5pm Monday to Friday.
“This will go towards reducing surgery waitlists, alleviating the pressure on our public hospitals, easing the ramping that’s taking place at our EDs and filling the gaps that currently exist in patient access to care.
“The Liberal government had 10 years to fix our public hospital system but instead, they’ve let waitlists and ambulance response times spiral out of control.
“It’s time for a better future for health, and this commitment comes on top of our extensive suite of policies including free degrees for healthcare workers, increased numbers of nurses and paramedics, and our record regional health plan to help people get care close to where they live.”
Rebecca White MP
Tasmanian Labor Leader
