❓ Opposition MP Kirkup questions the Health Minister on delays and increased costs of the Murdoch medihotel project. The Minister defends the delay, citing an improved integrated facility, and highlights the success of the existing medihotel at Royal Perth Hospital.
AnsweredQoN 599Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MURDOCH MEDIHOTEL
599. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
recent announcement that the Murdoch medihotel will not open until 2023, six
years after the minister's media release titled ''Work begins on
WA's first Medihotel''. Can the minister confirm that the $55.5 million
set aside for the operational costs of the medihotel over four years equates to
$475 per bed per night, which is at least double the rate the minister promised
at the election of between $120 and $200 per bed per night?
599. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
recent announcement that the Murdoch medihotel will not open until 2023, six
years after the minister's media release titled ''Work begins on
WA's first Medihotel''. Can the minister confirm that the $55.5 million
set aside for the operational costs of the medihotel over four years equates to
$475 per bed per night, which is at least double the rate the minister promised
at the election of between $120 and $200 per bed per night?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for raising the
issue of medihotels. It is one of our successful policies that is working
really well. We are very excited.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup : It is not
working at all. You haven't even started.
Mr R.H. COOK : Royal Perth
Hospital is going nicely, thank you very much. We have a medihotel at Royal
Perth Hospital. I will tell members a story about a patient from the Kimberley
with a respiratory illness who was brought to Perth, had a short stay in the
intensive care unit and was ready for discharge by 6.00 pm. The options for
that patient were to either find herself a place to stay that night in a city
that she was unfamiliar with in a community that she had no networks in or, as
happened, be assisted by the staff at Royal Perth Hospital to stay in the
medihotel at Royal Perth Hospital that night
and be transferred to the hospital the following morning by our Aboriginal
meet- and-greet service. That is the power of institutions like
medihotels.
The medihotel that we are developing
at Fiona Stanley Hospital will be an 80-bed facility. Its development has taken
longer than we all wanted but by doing so we will have an integrated $200 million
medical facility to support the public and private hospitals on that precinct.
Obviously, the 80-bed medihotel will be an important part of that, but it will
also offer other aspects of health services, including BreastScreen WA, which
will take up space at that facility, as well as, I think, PathWest. It will be
an integrated facility. All good things come to those who wait and although we have had to be more patient about this
development, what we have now is a greater and much improved opportunity. Of course, we could just go and jam some public money into
building a building out the back that stands alone and is not integrated, but
in this context we have added value and will create an outstanding facility
that will enhance the clinical and support services available to people who go
to that hospital, and we will meet our important election promises.
issue of medihotels. It is one of our successful policies that is working
really well. We are very excited.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup : It is not
working at all. You haven't even started.
Mr R.H. COOK : Royal Perth
Hospital is going nicely, thank you very much. We have a medihotel at Royal
Perth Hospital. I will tell members a story about a patient from the Kimberley
with a respiratory illness who was brought to Perth, had a short stay in the
intensive care unit and was ready for discharge by 6.00 pm. The options for
that patient were to either find herself a place to stay that night in a city
that she was unfamiliar with in a community that she had no networks in or, as
happened, be assisted by the staff at Royal Perth Hospital to stay in the
medihotel at Royal Perth Hospital that night
and be transferred to the hospital the following morning by our Aboriginal
meet- and-greet service. That is the power of institutions like
medihotels.
The medihotel that we are developing
at Fiona Stanley Hospital will be an 80-bed facility. Its development has taken
longer than we all wanted but by doing so we will have an integrated $200 million
medical facility to support the public and private hospitals on that precinct.
Obviously, the 80-bed medihotel will be an important part of that, but it will
also offer other aspects of health services, including BreastScreen WA, which
will take up space at that facility, as well as, I think, PathWest. It will be
an integrated facility. All good things come to those who wait and although we have had to be more patient about this
development, what we have now is a greater and much improved opportunity. Of course, we could just go and jam some public money into
building a building out the back that stands alone and is not integrated, but
in this context we have added value and will create an outstanding facility
that will enhance the clinical and support services available to people who go
to that hospital, and we will meet our important election promises.
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