Mayor says push for local hospital is not in vain

Lockyer Valley Mayor, Cr Tanya Milligan, has labelled Health Minister Cameron Dick's response to calls for a new hospital development at Plainland as narrow sighted and out of touch with the community.

With women unable to give birth in the Lockyer Valley and a number of patients transferred or referred to larger hospitals such as Ipswich or Toowoomba for procedures that should be performed locally, it makes perfect sense to increase services in the Valleyor so you would think.

Mayor Milligan said she was disheartened to hear the Health Minister reject calls for a regional hospital in the Lockyer Valley be even considered, especially as the region continues to grow.

To just come out and blatantly refuse to even consider the possibility of a regional hospital in the Lockyer Valley is an insult to everyone who lives here.

In saying the forward planning of better health services for the Lockyer Valley isn't a priority for his Labor government is saying residents of the Lockyer Valley aren't a priority. Sorry, I disagree, she said.

Mayor Milligan posed three simple questions for the Health Minister and Cabinet.

Q1. Why is Labor happy to deny Lockyer Valley residents basic health services without the need to travel to either Toowoomba or Ipswich?

Q2. Why does the Labor Government continue to deny women the choice to give birth in the Lockyer Valley?

Q3. Why do Labor Cabinet Ministers continue to ignore the Lockyer Valley despite repeated invitations? The only Palaszczuk Minister to visit the area has been Stirling Hinchcliffe.

If the Health Minister wants to stick his head in the sand on this issue, that's fine, I have no intention to let it go.

Personally, I'm excited we have started the conversation about future planning and the potential of a new hospital and for that matter have had fruitful meetings with QLD Health on this very issue.

I'm not nave enough to think this will happen overnight, but we need to start the conversation now and start putting the money away immediately so we can determine the best location in the Lockyer Valley to develop a regional hospital.

To see the residents of the Lockyer Valley have the level of health care they deserve is something worth fighting for, Mayor Milligan said.