CATHERINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
MEMBER FOR BALLARAT
JENNIFER YANG
LABOR CANDIDATE FOR CHISHOLM
LABOR WILL UPGRADE BOX HILL HOSPITAL
A Shorten Labor Government will reduce specialist waiting times and boost the range of services available at Box Hill Hospital with a $25 million upgrade of this vital facility.
This election is a choice between a united Shorten Labor Government which will restore the Liberals’ cuts to health and hospitals, or more of the Liberals’ cuts and chaos.
Box Hill is the major public hospital in Chisholm and provides crucial care to people across Melbourne’s east.
The population of this area faces greater health challenges than the Victorian average, with high rates of cancer and heart disease, in particular. As a result, the rate of specialist presentations and hospital admissions – and the pressure on Box Hill Hospital – is high.
Thanks to the hard work of staff, Box Hill Hospital provided more than 150,000 specialist appointments last year. But the hospital’s physical infrastructure constrains the number of services that can be provided, and many outpatients wait longer than recommended to be seen.
At the same time, Box Hill lacks the facilities and equipment to provide some services that are routine in other parts of Melbourne.
That’s why a Shorten Labor Government will invest $25 million to fund the infrastructure and equipment that is needed to reduce waiting times and provide crucial services closer to home.
Labor’s investment includes:
- $10 million to build additional specialist consulting suites, expected to reduce waiting times by providing an extra 50,000 specialist appointments a year.
- $5 million to commission a hybrid operating theatre, a type of theatre that includes both surgical and imaging technologies, and reduces the time and risks of surgery.
- $5 million for a new angiography suite, doubling Box Hill Hospital’s capacity to provide this vital imaging service to patients with heart disease and other conditions.
- $5 million for a PET scanner – a crucial technology for diagnosing cancer and other diseases, the first publicly available PET scanner in Melbourne’s east.
This investment will be funded through Labor’s $2.8 billion Better Hospitals Fund.
While Scott Morrison and the Liberals have not made a significant commitment to the people of Chisholm, Bill Shorten and Labor are investing in a seat abandoned by its current MP and neglected by the Liberals.
Labor can pay for better local hospitals because we will make multinationals pay their fair share and close tax loopholes used by the top end of town.
As Treasurer, Scott Morrison cut funding from health while trying to give an $80 billion tax handout to big business, including $17 billion to the big banks.
And Morrison will cut even more money from hospitals if the Liberals win the election.
Families in Melbourne’s east are sick of the Liberals’ cuts and chaos. They want investment in their hospitals.
That’s what a Shorten Labor Government will deliver.
FRIDAY, 3 MAY 2019