Albany Health Campus redevelopment: Opposition labels lack of funding for business case ‘shameless evasion’

The State Opposition claims the State Government is “shamelessly evading the issue” of funding an expansion of Albany Health Campus. Its claim comes after discussion in Parliament on June 13 revealed documents showing a business case for the hospital’s expansion had been completed as early as December 2021. It took a Freedom of Information request from independent South West MLC James Hayward for 32 partially redacted documents related to the AHC business case for expansion to be released by the WA Country Health Service. The documents, which did not include the business case, indicated AHC was unable to meet patient care demand due to its capacity and a business case with costing “in the order of” $320 million had been completed. Shadow minister for regional health Martin Aldridge said the State Government was “shamelessly evading the issue of the Albany Health Campus’ future development”. “If the Government has known since December 2021 that the Albany Health Campus urgently needs redevelopment to meet patient care demand, then they have had two State Budgets to act and have failed to do so,” he said. “Instead, they are hiding behind claims of Cabinet in confidence, leaving the local community in complete darkness about the future of the facility. “It’s crystal clear the Government lacks transparency and is far from committed to delivering the high-quality regional health outcomes the people of Albany deserve.” He said the Government appeared “to be sitting on crucial information about the Albany Health Campus when they should be acting” and it was another example of under-investment and delays in regional health. “I demand that the Minister for Health come clean about the future development needs of the Albany Health Campus,” he said. In response to questions from the Advertiser, a State Government spokeswoman said “the Cook Government continues to invest in regional healthcare, including major infrastructure projects”. She said the Government had opened a $13.1 million radiation oncology facility in Albany in March and had contributed $1 million to support services at the Clarence Estate Community Centre. “Future-proofing WA’s public health system is one of the Government’s key priorities and we constantly monitor and assess demand for services,” she said. “In the 2023-24 State Budget, we announced $1.2 billion in additional funding major public hospital infrastructure projects for WA’s future, including $2.1 million for the Albany Health Campus car park and nearly $10.5 million for Albany General Dental Clinic.”