| Media contact: Ben Hart on 03 9651 5799 or 0407 445 551 www.vic.gov.au
Thursday, March 17 2005
NEW HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT FOR SHEPPARTON
Goulburn Valley Health will receive $370,000 to help it buy new medical equipment as part of a Bracks Government program, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Daniel Andrews announced today.
Representing Health Minister Bronwyn Pike on a visit to the hospital to announce the funding, Mr Andrews said it was part of a $17 million package for public hospitals around the State to buy much-needed medical equipment such as patient monitoring and diagnostic devices.
“The Bracks Government is investing in new and updated equipment in hospitals across the State to ensure all Victorians get the best health care when they need it and where they need it,” Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said Goulburn Valley Health would spend $250,000 of the funding on replacement infusion pumps, syringe pumps and other pumps at the Shepparton Hospital campus.
The other $120,000 will go towards isolettes for neo-natal care, and monitoring systems at Shepparton.
Mr Andrews said this year’s grants included ‘big-ticket’ pieces of equipment that would improve the quality of care and help meet the growth in patient demand.
“Victorian hospitals need to stay abreast of developments in medical science and technology to ensure that they continue to provide the best possible care to patients,” Mr Andrews said.
“Over the last five years, the Bracks Government provided $26 million to rural hospitals alone to buy the latest equipment to take advantage of advances in medical technology, and to allow them to be more efficient and cater for greater patient demand.”
“Since coming to office, the Bracks Government has increased yearly funding to country hospitals by $380 million or more than 50 per cent,” Mr Andrews said.
Over the last five years in country Victoria, the Government has also:
· Provided $314 million to build or upgrade hospitals.
· Provided $26 million to upgrade equipment.
· Employed more than 1500 extra nurses.
· Treated more patients - with more than 377,000 rural hospital admissions last financial year, 43,135 more people than in 1999/2000.
“The Bracks Government will continue to invest and give country Victoria more funding, more choice, more say,” Mr Andrews said.
Media Release Attachment - GVHequipmentDA.doc [Word, 45056 Bytes]
|
