Multi-million-dollar investment to help bridge the divide between metro and regional health

The single biggest investment in ambulance services across Victoria and a massive hospital, aged care and community health service building program headline the Brumby Labor Government’s multi-million-dollar boost to regional health, the Treasurer, John Lenders, said today.

Mr Lenders said families in regional Victoria would be big winners in the Brumby Labor Government’s 2008-09 State Budget record $185.7 million boost for ambulance services.

Statewide, the investment delivers $131.7 million to station upgrades and extra services, including additional paramedics, $45.7 million for a new and improved air ambulance fleet, and $8.3 million to help employ 20 dedicated off roster rural/regional paramedics across the State.

“Two new medical helicopters, a proposed single statewide ambulance service and new or expanded ambulance services are central to this investment,” Mr Lenders said.

“The Brumby Labor Government is taking action for working families in regional Victoria providing the best possible health services to help bridge the gap between city and country health.”

One of the new helicopters, to transport ill and injured babies, children and adults as part of the retrieval system will be based at Essendon airport. The other will be based at Warrnambool to provide additional coverage to south-west Victoria.

The Budget’s $45.7 million air ambulance boost includes $5.5 million over four years for the Air Ambulance Victoria’s rescue airplane, and to upgrade the aircraft used to transport ill babies for the neonatal retrieval system.

Across the State, nine ambulance stations will be refurbished or rebuilt at Anglesea, Avoca, Ballarat, Hamilton, Hastings, Neerim South, Pakenham, Sunbury and Timboon. There will also be upgraded services involving the addition of paramedics at Alexandra, Anglesea, Apollo Bay, Beaconsfield, Colac, Greensborough, Melton, Mirboo North, Sunbury and Timboon.

Extra crews will be added to stations on major country transport corridors – at Woodend, Kyneton, Kilmore and Gisborne, and new MICA single responder units will be established at Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and the Latrobe Valley.

The Budget provides $8.3 million over four years to employ 20 additional paramedics across in regional and rural Victoria, over and above a recent regional campaign to recruit an additional 100 paramedics into country Victoria.

Mr Lenders said the Brumby Labor Government had also released a position paper proposing a total restructure of Victoria’s ambulance services that would see one organisation – Ambulance Victoria – operate a new statewide service. The paper is at www.health.vic.gov.au/ambulance and responses close on 20 May 2008.

Mr Lenders said key investments in rural and regional hospitals, aged care services, mental health and homelessness services included:

• $70.1 million for the second phase of South West Healthcare’s Warrnambool Hospital redevelopment. Funding includes a new inpatients’ building and associated facilities;
• $9.5 million to redevelop the Bendigo Hospital emergency department to provide an eight-bed short-stay unit to better manage patients requiring stays of less than 24 hours;
• $1 million for detailed design work at the Alexandra District Hospital redevelopment;
• $21 million for a new Latrobe Community Health Service building in Morwell, including new offices, consulting rooms and facilities for allied health such as alcohol and drug services, counselling, physiotherapy, district nursing, palliative care and five new dental chairs;
• $5.5 million to reconfigure the mental health Adult Acute Unit at Ballarat Hospital to improve access and client amenity and to refurbish Ballarat’s Queen Victoria building to accommodate Community Mental Health facilities;
• $13.6 million to the Bendigo Residential Aged Care Facility to replace Bendigo Health’s outdated Stella Anderson Nursing Home, with a new, 60-bed facility with better environmental amenity, comfort, safety, security and privacy for residents and staff;
• $8 million to Hepburn Health Service’s Trentham Campus for the redevelopment of 15 high-care residential aged care beds and primary care services, refurbishment of the low-care facility, a new medical consulting suite, emergency stabilisation area, primary care and community activity centre, and support areas; and
• $780,000 to establish a demonstration centre of excellence in sexually transmitted infections and management in Shepparton.

“The State Budget also provides funding of $11.4 million to improve dental health in rural and regional Victoria and reduce avoidable dental treatment, especially in children,” Mr Lenders said.

“This additional funding will allow the Brumby Labor Government to meets its commitment of 90 per cent of Victoria’s population receiving fluoridated water by 2011, up from 77 per cent now.”

In the last two years, as part of the Government’s commitment to improving the oral health of all Victorians, the communities of Robinvale, Moe, Morwell, Sale, Warragul, Traralgon, Horsham, Wodonga and Wangaratta have had fluoride introduced to their drinking water supplies.

More recently, the decision has been made to commence water fluoridation in the regional centres of Yarrawonga, Warrnambool, Hamilton, Ballarat and Geelong.

Also, 18 new dental chairs are being established in Wodonga and Mildura to treat more Victorians. A 10 chair clinic will be established in Wodonga and an eight chair clinic in Mildura.

“In a further boost to dental health across the state, we are also providing $4.9 million for new dental chairs in Melton to train student dentists completing their studies at the La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus,” Mr Lenders said.

Mr Lenders said senior Victorians in the regions also stood to benefit from a $6 million allocation to establish a regional food kitchen to help senior Victorians access affordable, high-quality and nutritious meals.

A consortium of 14 local councils will develop and operate the regional food kitchen, including the following rural and regional councils: Macedon Ranges, Melton and Greater Geelong.

Mr Lenders said working families in rural and regional Victoria also stood to benefit from a range of Brumby Labor Government statewide health initiatives including:

• $23.6 million to the Hospital Energy Supply Project to ensure continuity of critical healthcare services to six of Victoria’s major public hospitals in the event of disruptions to the State’s electricity supplies;
• $5 million to the Medical Equipment Replacement Program to replace essential equipment with new and updated technology;
• $103.9 million for HealthSMART program to secure a statewide ICT network to be used by all public health services across Victoria;
• $16.6 million over four years towards reducing the rates of HIV transmission and the prevention of other chronic communicable diseases;
• $20.1 million to tackle chronic disease, with a focus on disadvantaged communities. It will focus on better data collection for type 2 diabetes expanding the Victorian Population Health Survey to collect local government area data on risk factors every three years; and expanding the Early Intervention in Chronic Disease Program from its current 18 sites to cover a further 18 local government areas in the State;
• $2.1 million for the Aboriginal Health Promotion and Chronic Care Partnership to enable community health services to better tailor early intervention and treatment services, as well as promoting Go for your Life through Aboriginal community organisations;
• $6.6million to match anticipated Commonwealth funding for new screening initiatives for mothers at risk of post-natal depression;
• $16.8 million over four years for new integrated children and youth services, and family support, to help prevent the onset of mental illness in young people before conditions become chronic;
• $10.4 million over four years towards a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week statewide mental health information and referral service for Victorian families, similar to Nurse on Call;
• $5.5 million over four years for a trial of a new mental health triage service to ensure patients were quickly directed to the most appropriate service; and
• $8.7 million over four years for a leading-edge program to address the link between mental illness and homelessness by developing individual packages for the chronically homeless to address their mental health needs while providing accommodation.