By Shelby Brooks and Marcus Uhe
The Liberal Party’s plan to reform a Victorian health care system in “crisis” will include a second campus of Casey Hospital, to be located in Pakenham.
A Liberals and Nationals Government will deliver $500 million for a new campus of Casey Hospital to service Melbourne’s South East, and take pressure off the Casey Berwick campus.
The campus will include an urgent care centre with a dedicated children’s treatment area, 150 beds, general and specialist surgery operating theatres, maternity services, specialist consulting rooms and a 750-space car park for staff, patients and visitors, among other services, with funding to be sourced from the planned Box Hill to Cheltenham Suburban Rail Loop, set to be scrapped under a Coalition government.
Leader of the Liberal Party, Matt Guy, made the announcement in Pakenham on Tuesday 1 November, at the location of the proposed Pakenham Community Hospital on Main Street in Pakenham, promised in the lead up to the 2018 election.
“It’s the Paky campus of Casey Hospital,” Mr Guy said.
“So you’re not creating one resource here which is totally different from another up the road, you’ve got one resource with two campuses so they can disperse their services across the growth area.”
In June last year, the State Government identified 67-69 Main Street Pakenham as the preferred site for the Pakenham Community Hospital, stating it would provide a range of integrated community health and specialist services.
Mr Guy said Labor’s plan wasn’t adequate for the growing area, likening the proposed community hospital to a “GP clinic”.
“It’s not a real hospital, you can’t stay overnight,” he said.
“Our plan is fully funded, we’ve got that money out of the suburban rail loop and we’re making sure it goes to health. We don’t need to borrow or increase taxes – the money is there.”
The Coalition also feels the old Pakenham Woolworths site is not appropriate for their project.
“This may not be suitable in size or location, but the site will still be within Pakenham and then we’ll work out what happens with this current site,” Liberal Candidate for Berwick, Brad Battin said.
The party will conduct extensive consultation with the communities of Casey and Cardinia as well as Monash Health to determine a suitable greenfield site, the opposition said.
The design of the first-stage hospital will allow for future expansion, including a full emergency department and significant new additional beds, to cater for expected population growth in the area.
Casey Hospital will receive a share of $236 million in funding to double the capacity of its emergency department as part of $2.3 billion to upgrade existing and build new hospitals across the state, the Labor Party announced in May’s 2022-23 state budget.
Both Dandenong Hospital and Casey Hospital are operated by Monash Health, as will the proposed second campus of Casey.
Up to $295 million will be committed to upgrading Dandenong Hospital under a re-elected Labor Government, Premier Daniel Andrews announced last week.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the Victorian Government was delivering the Pakenham Community Hospital so locals could get the care they needed close to home.
“Located at the old Woolworths site, the hospital will deliver services including day surgery, urgent care, dental, chronic disease management, specialist medical care and diagnostic services, taking pressure off nearby the Casey Hospital.”
Labor’s Pakenham Community Hospital was promised as part of a $675 million investment to build 10 community hospital in major growth areas.
