‘Nervous’ vets await Health announcement
South Australian war veterans are “nervous but optimistic” this morning as they brace for the State Government’s expected announcement of the closure of the Repatriation General Hospital.
But they are hopeful the government will commission better services in its place.
Returned Services League chief executive officer Sam Jackman told InDaily veterans have a strong affinity with the Repat.
“It’s had a very long history of supporting veterans who’ve come back from various different campaigns with injuries ranging from mental to physical health, so it’s an intrinsic part of veteran’s health,” she said.
“But it’s the services that the Repat provides that are intrinsic, not necessarily the Repat itself.
“For veterans, they’re both nervous and optimistic.”
You might like
The Government’s blueprint for the Health system has been released this afternoon – go here for details.
Snelling was coy yesterday about the fate of the Repatriation General Hospital as a whole, but told reporters a $15 million centre of excellence for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder would be built to replace Ward 17 of the Repat.
He said the mental health ward “has been operating out of a dilapidated building for many years – it’s of a fibro construction from the 1940s and really is no longer fit for use”.
“Veterans have been telling me for a long time that … we need a purpose-built facility that can properly cater for their needs.
“We’ll consult with veterans about where the best place is to have it. One option is it could continue to be at Daw Park (on the current Repat Site).
“(But) I think there would be a lot to be said for a more central and easily accessible location across Adelaide.”
Stay informed, daily
Jackman said: “It was good to hear that the Government announced support services for those suffering PTSD, however we still wait to hear what other services (would be) provided, and how we would be taken care of in the event it closes.”
“We do understand that in this day and age, some contingencies have to be made.”
Veterans Affairs Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith yesterday refused to repeat the statements he had made as Opposition health spokesperson decrying any closure of the Repat, saying instead that: “I have been absolutely strident on the need for good facilities for our veterans, at the Repat or wherever else they’re needed; I stand by that 100 per cent.”
He was joined at the press conference by Vietnam Veteran Lieutenant Colonel Moose Dunlop, who said the new PTSD care centre would improve the lot of South Australian veterans.
He said the Repat’s Ward 17 was “substandard” and “disgusting”.
“I applaud the decision. I think it’s great,” he said.
Yesterday, InDaily reported the State Government would spend around $7 million commissioning a private operator or operators to take patients out of the public system who have already been assessed as ready to leave hospital and place them in 40 private aged care beds.
Snelling also announced yesterday that $236 million would be spent on the Flinders Medical Centre ($154 million), the Modbury Hospital ($32 million), the Queen Elizabeth Hospital ($20 million) and Noarlunga Hospital ($15 million).
Almost all of that money comes from a fund set up at last year’s Budget, containing the savings from shelving upgrades at those very hospitals.
Today’s announcement is also expected to consolidate emergency services in three “super” ED’s – Flinders Medical Centre, the Lyell McEwin Hospital and the New Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Want to see more stories from InDailySA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDailySA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDailySA". That's it.
