Green’s health spokesperson Amanda Bresnan has saluted with a tear in her eye as the mighty Little Company of Mary pounds the ACT Government into submission and the bold endeavour of freeing Canberra’s hospital system from the Roman Catholic Church comes to naught.
“While I personally would like to take the challenge to the Board of the Little Company of Mary, in order to have a new acute hospital, I recognise the reality of the situation in that we have a large company with a great deal of power in determining the direction of acute care provision in the ACT,” Ms Bresnan said.
“I am sure there are many people in the ACT who don’t want to see protracted legal battle, and want to see this situation resolved and the future of health care in the ACT progressed.
“While we won’t have a new stand alone acute hospital, a new sub-acute facility will greatly benefit the ACT community, as this is a growing area of need.
“I do remain concerned about Calvary Hospital not providing a full range of services, particularly reproductive services such as access to the contraceptive services and IVF. With Calvary being the main provider of acute services to North Canberra, the fastest growing area in Canberra, I don’t believe it is acceptable to say people in North Canberra can go across town or elsewhere”.
“If Calvary aren’t to provide these services, then there should be agreement reached and a separate provider, whether that is ACT Health or another service provider, allowed to provide these services, preferably on the current Calvary Bruce site”, Ms Bresnan said.
Still no statement from Ms Gallagher on this debacle, especially considering her recent consultation process which found overwhelming support for a new hospital not festooned with the symbols of any particular religion.
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