Public outrage over hospital plans

OUTRAGED Colac and district residents have called for a public meeting to address the pending closure of Colac Area Health’s overnight emergency service.

Unlock full access to Colac Herald - Subscribe today!

Subscribe Now

20 Responses to “Public outrage over hospital plans”

  1. Might need to look at something like the Lorne Urgent Care setup, for the small number of emergency presentations that the board say they are receiving every month. RN’s are rostered for ward shifts but are trained in advanced life support, can initiate treatment even for non-life threatening emergencies. Residents needing attention, if able to get to the hospital safely aren’t waiting hours for an ambulance to arrive. This can cbe achieved with existing staff with a reduced budget. Why did the board take such drastic action without looking at other options?

  2. Colac Area Health executive salaries up by about $250 k last year. Emergency department shortfall about $250 k. Coincidence?

  3. Yeah stuff the politicians, none of them really listen do they!!!
    The cost of a Radiologists is put on the patient within the time they’re gunna close, so they can’t use that against us.
    But it would be great to see a ‘cost break down’ or would that just give us more ammo to throw at them.

  4. Darren has a compaign going and is doing the best a person can do… there is only so much one person can do….People keep blaming either party when we should be focusing on the job at hand. We have a problem we need to fix – maybe we should be listening to all of these solutions instead of politics…

  5. Phil Alexander

    There also could be a sinister reason for the cut to the service. Cheeseman holds Corangamite by the narrowest of margins, so State liberals blame the Federal Government giving impetus to Sarah Henderson’s campaign. But Liberals wouldn’t put there political interests ahead of the health of the public would they? You bet they would.

  6. Mary Janssen

    What we should be asking is, how much does it cost per night to keep Urgent Care open? The wage of 1 RN, the cost of consumerables & utility expenses, the cost of on call medical/radiology services…we need to know, & how can we address this problem as a user group to maintain the level of service its always provided.

    I am so pleased to see the Colac & surrounds community rallying behind this issue. We are incredibly lucky in this town to have Colac Area Health, the wide range of services it provides, its wonderful staff, the care & skills given professionally & passionately.

    It’s given us all so much, so how can we help?

  7. everyone is running around blamming labour and liberal when they are both to blame for the worst health system ever is about time some polititions got of there arse and done somthing about it instead of handing money out overseas and linning ther own pockets we don’t see them taking a pay cut so we can keep our emergency sevvice

  8. Phil Alexander

    I don’t wish to sound like a bore but as I have already said Liberal governments whether they be State or Federal have no commitment to Public Health. Can I remind the reader that when Tony Abbott was Federal Health Minister he oversaw the cutting of $2 billion from the Federal Health budget. I’m not partisan labor I just deal in facts and the Liberals have a terrible record in Public Health, Public Education in fact anything Public!

  9. The government will give the money back when it’s time to vote them back in.

  10. How about some investigative journalism, what is the funding agreement between the state and federal governments, how much does that fed and state budget increase or decrease by

  11. How about this? Can local businesses sponsor the emergency department? Can individuals sponsor it? Can we put together a fund-raiser with the proceeds being used to keep it open?
    Can it really be that hard?

  12. state watcher

    the colac herald needs to report on a more balanced basis. the state government has cut $616 million in funding whilst the federal government is increase its funding.

  13. Phil Alexander

    Sorry folks, but for the sake of accuracy the Lib’s have cut more than $600 million not $600 billion.

  14. Phil Alexander

    Why not get on the phone to local member Terry Mulder. It’s not a myth that his Liberal Government has taken the razor to our Public Health System to the tune of more the $600 billion since coming to power just over 2 years ago.
    Perhaps Terry is too busy taking credit for the former State Labor Government Infrastructure developments such as Peninsula Link. Federal Liberal candidate for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson, belongs to a political party that is not committed to Public Health. The philosophy of the current Liberal Party is that people should look after their own health through private health insurance irrespective of their financial situation. Voting for Sarah therefore will ultimately make the situation worse. Put pressure on Mr. Mulder to get David Davis, the State Health Minister to reinstate at least some of the funds ripped out of our health system so that this important service is maintained.

  15. The Colac Emergency Department is a very important service to Colac and surrounding areas, They teach us that every minute counts when someone has cardiac arrest, well bit sad when we have to call am Ambulance and possibly have to wait over a hour for it to return to town to be able to administer care to a critically ill person, Our Health is the last thing we should be cutting costs with, Who will stand up and be held reaponsible when people die ?

  16. What a pack of children our politicians are, arguing about who broke the cookie jar. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, will someone please just find a way to fix it. That’s what you’re there for.

  17. Why is the Colac Herald running this line that this service has ceased due to “a Federal Government funding shortfall”.

    Baillieu has cut $616m out of the health budget over the last two budgets. You want to get onto Liberal Transport Minister Terry Mulder about this. Federal funding increases by $900m over the course of the current agreement.

    Shame on Ted Baillieu

    1. It is a Federal Government shortfall!
      I don’t vote for either major party and I don’t care about political tit for tat, but as hospital chief Geoff Iles has said, the shortfall has come about because the Commonwealth (that’s Federal Government, not State) has reduced its funding to Victorian hospitals.
      Let’s stop pointing the finger and just fix this situation.
      Darren Cheeseman, why not do something for once and maybe, just maybe, you’ll emerge a hero and retain your seat.

      1. Dave from Deans Marsh

        Cheeseman will be back in Ballarat,before the year is out.
        So far he has looked after one person…himself.

  18. Where is Colac Otway Shire Council’s outrage in this debacle?
    Our elected representatives are disturbingly mute.
    Have they forgotten they are the elected representatives of the people, that they work for us?
    Mr Cheeseman, despite all his desperate tweets and Facebook posts trying to blame the State Government for the hospital funding shortfall, is going to discover at the election that we know he’s to blame for this crisis.
    Our local government representatives, whose efforts so far are pathetic, are also destined for the same fate unless they act for the people.
    No other issue in years has drawn such a unified community response. Our so-called leaders will ignore that response at their peril.
    Readers, get on the phone and on the computer to Mr Cheeseman and tell him stop the political misinformation and to fix the problem.
    Otherwise, we’ll hand the Corangamite electorate to Ms Henderson and the Liberal Party and Mr Cheeseman will be where he belongs – gone.

Comments are closed.

Follow us on Instagram

© Copyright Colac Herald 2024 WordPress website development by DMC Web.