On Tuesday, Eurobodalla Council unanimously carried a Mayoral Motion

that Council:

• Advocates to the NSW Government to maintain an operational Hospital Emergency Department in Batemans Bay 24/7 after the Eurobodalla Hospital opens in Moruya
• Advocates to the NSW Premier and Minister for Health to ensure health equity for regional communities.
  

Dr Michael Holland, Member for Bega has responded to this decision with the following statement:

“The safety and quality of health services for our constituents is the highest priority of NSW Health.

The Minister and NSW Health also exercise stewardship of financial and workforce resources.

The provision of health care is complex.

There are dilemmas and difficult decisions are required.

These decisions require consistency.

I acknowledge the advocacy of Eurobodalla Shire Council

I have informed the council of the health needs of the Eurobodalla for the past twenty years.

I have also engaged with the residents of Batemans Bay regarding their concerns.

I have attended their protests, the presentation of their petition, and community information sessions.

Planning of critical care/emergency services in the Eurobodalla has been progressing since 2017.

The Eurobodalla Health Services Clinical Services Plan was endorsed by previous liberal government in 2020.

This included demographic information regarding population distribution and projected growth.

With Transport for NSW, it also included assessment of highway and traffic conditions.

The clinical services plan has always included the transition of all services from the level 2 Batemans Bay hospital and the level 3 Moruya District Hospital to a single facility.

There has been a commitment to a single level 4 Eurobodalla Regional Hospital since 2021.

The mayor of Eurobodalla has described a reduction in services.

There is not a reduction in services. There is an increase.

The emergency department at the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will have more emergency treatment spaces than the current hospitals combined.

The new $330 million Eurobodalla regional hospital will be larger than the combined existing hospitals.

The Mayor described inequity of the new hospital development.

The new Eurobodalla regional hospital was designed to create equity for the Eurobodalla relative to southeast regional hospital and Goulburn base hospitals.

That is because the combined services in the Eurobodalla are greater than Southeast Regional Hospital and Goulburn base hospitals

Nearly 50% patients are not provided with care locally.

It was designed to provide equity for the population from Batemans Bay to south of Narooma.

A level 4 emergency department is necessary for a level 4 intensive care unit.

The new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will have the first intensive care unit in the Eurobodalla.

It will have the first paediatric ward and level 4 special care nursery in the Eurobodalla.

It will have the first in-hospital MRI on the far south coast.

And it will provide a higher level and wider range of medical and surgical services.

There will be an on-site helipad.

Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will be part of the coastal network of health services with Southeast Regional Hospital Bega.

A new single level 4 hospital allows for the future development of local radiation oncology services, a local stroke unit, and university training for health professionals.

The existing Batemans Bay emergency has no CT scanner, no ultrasound service, no on-site pathology or blood bank.

It only has a day only operating theatre.

There is no anaesthetist, surgeon, physician, paediatrician, or obstetrician.

There are two options.

We can continue to complete the clinical services plan to close the level 2 hospital at Batemans Bay and the level 3 hospital in Moruya and open the new level 4 Eurobodalla Regional Hospital with level 4 emergency, critical care, and intensive care services.

Or close the level 3 Moruya District Hospital, keep a virtual level 1 service at Batemans Bay, and end up with a level 3 Eurobodalla Regional Hospital.

The state and federal governments will continue to invest in health services in Batemans Bay.

The Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be the first in Australia to be open from 6am to midnight.

Work has commenced on the $20 million Batemans Bay Community Health Centre.

The first helicopter base south of Wollongong will be based at Moruya Airport.

The government has invested more than $200 million for key health workers accommodation in regional areas including the Southern NSW Local Health District.

The local health district continues to work with NSW Ambulance on providing timely emergency services in the Eurobodalla.

A single level 4 Eurobodalla Regional Hospital will mean fewer unnecessary transfers between local hospitals and out of the Eurobodalla.

As the Member For Bega, I will organise briefing for Councillors with Minister for Health and Regional and NSW Health to inform them of the implementation of the Eurobodalla clinical services plan.

And, I will continue to work with Southern NSW Local Health District to address the concerns and questions of the Eurobodalla community.”