TODAY at 4pm NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner will turn her attention to Manning Hospital and Mayo Private Hospital.
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Member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead will set the agenda for the meeting at Parliament House in Sydney and it is expected to include the pre-election promise of $20 million for stage one redevelopment of Manning Hospital and the proposed Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) partnership agreement with Mayo Private Hospital to deliver public patient access to its Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory in Taree.
The Manning River Times received advice of the meeting from a member of the community and yesterday contacted Mr Bromhead's office to ask if the meeting had been arranged and would occur on May 6. Mr Bromhead's office confirmed the meeting had been organised.
HNELHD is preparing to work with the NSW government in the wake of the $20 million pre-election promise for Manning Hospital and senior staff see the preparation of a business case as the first step to be taken towards progressing the redevelopment.
Over the coming months, HNELHD will work with Health Infrastructure to develop the business case which will outline the priority services and facilities to be redeveloped, according to HNELHD acting director operations acute networks Karen Kelly, and her expectation is that planning will continue into 2016 "due to the detailed planning required for a redevelopment of this size."
HNELHD has already done some of the planning legwork for the redevelopment as it engaged Suters Architects in Newcastle to develop a master development plan in 2013 to "assist planning and development linked to future funding opportunities as they arrive."
The plan did not attract State or federal government funding for Manning Hospital with Manning Hospital Medical Staff Council and Manning Health Committee expressing frustration at the allocation of $110 million for Port Macquarie Base Hospital and $80 million for Kempsey District Hospital redevelopments and the 2015 pre-election promise of $50 million for Macksville Hospital. Two years on the $20 million pre-election promise of Mrs Skinner and Mr Bromhead for the Manning Hospital redevelopment is much less than what is needed but it is welcomed by the community.
The delivery of that funding from NSW government coffers will be keenly watched by Manning Health Committee chair, Don Macinnis OAM.
Earlier this year Mr Macinnis called for Mr Bromhead to "put his hand up for a new hospital" and described the issue of Manning Hospital infrastructure as "a festering sore".
"The front portion of the hospital was completed 57 years ago. That's the front wing the other wing is older and inside that time, it has been gutted and rebuilt four or five times. It's just a festering sore, I prefer to call it."
He welcomes the pre-election promise of funding but knows staged redevelopment of an old hospital site will not be without challenges.
Asbestos is now flagged as one of those challenges with the revelation last month by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) that Manning Hospital staff "have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace for the past 10 years".
The shock announcement came from a FairWork Commission hearing in Newcastle with the hospital's administration building on the corner of York and Commerce Streets identified as the source of the asbestos exposure. The building is identified for "long-medium term removal" in the master development plan.
The CFMEU thrust the asbestos exposure into the spotlight stating, "a visit to the site by CFMEU safety officer Michael Preston and an audit of the hospital revealed the site was riddled with the deadly fibre. At particular risk were maintenance staff based in building number 2 and those who accessed the building which houses medical records and maintenance equipment."
For now that building will continue to stand as its removal is not flagged in stage 1 of the proposed redevelopment.
Manning Health Committee, Manning Hospital Medical Staff Council and HNELHD will now look to the master development plan to see how far $20 million will go towards realising stage 1 initial works. The list is significant and broken into three stages. Stage 1A includes the creation of:
o a new access and drop off point for the hospital
o a three storey main entry and hospital street between the clinical services building and community health centre
o a three storey building to house oncology and renal services
Also flagged is the demolition of half the existing car park deck and the pharmacy building.
