redevelopment completion date still unknown
applied for redevelopment running behind schedule
when Tasmanians can expect the RHH to be completed
Will Hodgman has again failed to inform Tasmanians
when the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment will be completed and has avoidedanswering whether penalties have been applied for the redevelopment running
behind schedule
The contracted date for the RHH redevelopment
completion was December 2018. This was later revised to August 2019,
before a further delay to October 2019. With the October deadline having
passed, nobody seems to be able to answer when the redevelopment will actually
be completed.
Shadow Minister for Health, Sarah Lovell, said the redevelopment has been continuously plagued with
problems due to poor management by the Hodgman Liberal Government.
“It is disgraceful that we are now almost in December
and the Hodgman Government still can’t give a date for when the hospital will
be finished,” Ms Lovell said.
“Today in parliament Will Hodgman failed to even
answer basic questions regarding the amount of damages that will be paid by
contractors as a result of the development running even further behind its
contracted practical completion date.
“Sarah Courtney has continued to champion her plan to
have 44 beds open in February 2020 but it is clear from Will Hodgman’s remarks
in parliament today that the Government is nowhere close to reaching that
target.
“The Premier is yet to confirm how many of the 44 new
beds will be additional to current capacity of the hospital – is this because
he is unsure, or is it because he knows it’s nowhere near what they have been
leading Tasmanians to believe?
“Already the Hodgman Government’s
mismanagement and chronic underfunding has led to chaos and avoidable deaths.
“Any further delays to the RHH
redevelopment will only put more lives at risk and see the state’s health
system to fall deeper into crisis.
“The Government must come clean
about when Tasmanians can expect the RHH to be completed.
“Labor will continue to call for transparency around the timeline for the RHH redevelopment and whether any penalties for the latest delays have been issued.”
Sarah Lovell MLC
Shadow Health Minister
