Labor to build hospital in Geelong if elected

THE money keeps coming for Geelong in the last days of the state election campaign, with Labor pledging $100 million to build a women’s and children’s hospital in the city.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Health Jill Hennessy visited University Hospital Geelong on Saturday to make the election commitment.

It follows an earlier investment of $10 million to identify options to transform Geelong Private Hospital – which closed in June – into a public women’s and children’s hospital.

The pledge will go towards stage 1 of the project, funding further detailed planning and design and early construction, converting the site into a new hospital that will deliver more maternity and paediatric services for Geelong.

“As a parent, I know that having kids is both a magical and a stressful time,” Mr Andrews said.

“Only Labor will build a world-class Geelong Women’s and Children’s Hospital, so that more local mums can have their babies closer to home.

“Only Labor will get this hospital done. We’ve already started on the planning, but there’s more to do.”

Ms Hennessy said the closure of Geelong Private Hospital was “a big blow for the community”.

“We’ve stood with local nurses and other healthcare staff – and now we’re standing with patients too.”

In May, Geelong Private Hospital owner Healthscope notified employees at the Ryrie Street hospital as well as Cotham Private Hospital in Kew that management had decided to close both facilities.

Healthscope announced it had completed a review of the 45 hospitals in its portfolio, which found “there was a need for rationalisation of the company’s Victorian hospital portfolio, which has underperformed relative to the rest of the group”.