Please help me to save our hospital

Dear Friends

The battle to both save and fully re-establish Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital (BMDAMH) has moved to a new level.

With a State election 12-18 months away, it is imperative that Mountains residents send a clear message to both the Liberal and Labor parties that we require a Mountains hospital that provides basic, primary health care services to residents.

This includes a functioning accident & emergency department; general surgery; a maternity unit; a paediatrics unit; rehabilitation services; geriatrics and palliative care; a mental health unit and general medicine.

Each of the services listed above has or is in the process of being systematically downgraded. Most recently, 5 of the 15 beds in the mental health unit have closed. These beds have always been full and are desperately needed in our community.

The argument presented by local hospital management and the Sydney West Area Health Service that they are unable to attract suitably qualified staff to our hospital and therefore can’t safely offer 24/7 services, is only partially true.

The “hub and spoke” hospital model favoured by the State Government means that Blue Mountains residents (spoke) are required to be “fed” into Nepean Hospital (hub) and beyond (Westmead) for services. The recent Federal budget supported this model by providing $96.4 million over five years, starting in 2008-09, to expand Nepean hospital’s infrastructure.

In a media release announcing the Rudd Govt funding for Nepean hospital, Nicola Roxon said “that an expanded Nepean Hospital will benefit people living in the outer Western Sydney areas of Penrith, Blacktown, the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury”.

The Blue Mountains - outer Western Sydney? I don’t think so! We are the Blue Mountains and Mountains residents deserve better. Our hospital is a cornerstone of our community, a major local employer and an essential service.

If we sit back, our hospital will go, the signs are very clear. I am privately advised that the recent closures of the maternity unit are a test to see if Mountains residents will “jack up”. I am also advised that this is a serious election issue for the Mountains and both parties are watching to see what Mountains residents will do.

For me, this is not a political football to be tossed around. We are talking about our hospital – an essential service for 80,000 residents and the 3 million tourists who visit the Mountains on an annual basis.

Please help me to save our hospital. Join HEAL in the Winter Magic Parade on Saturday, June 20^th (the parade organisers want to focus on the hospital issue and have asked us to be up front). We will meet at 10.30am outside the vet in Waratah Street.

You can also sign the HEAL petition which can be found in shops in Leura, Wentworth Falls and Katoomba and is also attached to this email. On Friday, in Leura alone, we collected over 600 signatures. The petition will be presented to the NSW Parliament and we want 10,000 signatures to send the clear message “hands off our hospital”.

People have said to me this is a losing battle. I don’t agree. We are a marginal seat for the State election and our actions can make a difference.

Please send this email to your friends, join me on June 20^th, sign the petition and help to save our hospital.

Regards

Janet