Mayor excited by new West Moreton Health Chief Executive
Lockyer Valley Regional Council has enthusiastically welcomed the appointment of West Moreton Health’s new Chief Executive, Hannah Bloch, as the region continues to staunchly advocate for sustainable health services.
Bringing to her role a valuable understanding of regional needs, commitment and innovation – Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor, Tanya Milligan, said she was excited to think this appointment could be the catalyst for genuine and meaningful change within her region.
“I’m extremely encouraged to learn of Ms Bloch’s appointment and wish her every bit of success in her now role,” Mayor Milligan said.
“Her understanding of regional needs, acknowledgment of growing communities and drive for harnessing healthcare opportunities, makes me optimistic this appointment will translate to better health services for our region.
“As a Council we emphasise the value of strong partnerships with our key stakeholders, and I am eager to work collaboratively and respectfully with Ms Bloch to help ensure West Moreton’s vision aligns with my community’s needs.
“I am looking forward to seeing our region meaningfully included as Ms Bloch works through key areas including West Moreton Health’s revised Strategic Plan, Health Equity Strategy, Local Area Needs Analysis and the work on our capital and service planning across the region.”
Highlighting the results of the West Moreton Health’s community profile, Mayor Milligan said she is hopeful the 15 Year Masterplan would be rectified to include long-term health solutions for the Lockyer Valley.
“In contrast to West Moreton Health’s community profile which acknowledges our population is tipped to more than double in the next 20 years – their 15-year Master Plan only identifies short to medium term infrastructure priorities which include minor refurbishments to one of our small hospitals,” Mayor Milligan said.
“Anything less than a new regional hospital in the Lockyer Valley is simply a band-aid fix and cannot, and will not, offer a solution to the predicament our region faces with access to quality health services.
“The Laidley Health services has 6% self-sufficiency, meaning the hospital services just 6% of the catchment’s public hospital demand.
“Our residents are currently forced to travel outside the region to access some of the most basic public health services and this will only get worse in the future if nothing significant changes.”
The Lockyer Valley region is currently serviced by two Public Health services in Gatton and Laidley, which are both Level 2 Clinical services under the Department of Health Capability Framework.
There are currently 41 hospital beds in the region of which only 20 are funded for use across the two public hospitals, and for a population of 43,000 Mayor Milligan said this needed to change.
“A population that resides within South East Queensland should be able to access quality health care, but unfortunately this is not the case for the Lockyer Valley.
“Further adding insult to injury, the Lockyer Valley is identified in the West Moreton’s Local Areas Needs Analysis Summary as a geographic region that experiences greater health needs.
“Nestled on the fringe of the big smoke and on the radars of families hoping to tap into the work-life balance a regional community like ours provides – we need to ensure our health system is growing with our community.
“Now is the perfect opportunity to start planning for future service capability and demand with more funding.”
