Council lobbying yields extra beds for Gatton Hospital
More Lockyer Valley residents will be able to seek healthcare closer to home, with six extra beds set to open up at Gatton Hospital in the coming weeks.
West Moreton Health confirmed the news on its Facebook page yesterday, which comes in the wake of months of lobbying by Lockyer Valley Regional Council.
“We have been crying out for extra service capacity to cope with catchment demand and this is a great step in the right direction,” Mayor Tanya Milligan said.
“Of course there is still a lot of work to be done, and funding to be secured, to ensure our fast-growing region has access to adequate healthcare in the medium to long term, with our population tipped to more than double in 20 years.
“As I’ve said in the past, anything other than a new regional hospital is a Band-Aid solution, and I will continue to raise this issue and apply pressure to state and federal governments to start planning for our region’s future now.”
She applauded West Moreton Health for answering Council’s and the community’s calls for extra beds.
“We extend our thanks to West Moreton Health for funding the beds, which will prevent the need for as many people to travel outside the area to access healthcare,” Mayor Milligan said.
As part of the expansion, Gatton Hospital will trial a model of care for patients who are transitioning from acute care to community-based services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), West Moreton Health said.
This will see NDIS patients receiving support from Ipswich Hospital clinicians as well as the acute care and multi-disciplinary treating teams at Gatton.
“The innovative virtual care ward is a fabulous endorsement of Gatton Hospital, which is leading the way in healthcare through this pilot program, and we congratulate the team on this exciting new development,” Mayor Milligan said.
The region is served by two public hospitals, Gatton and Laidley, with 10 funded inpatient beds at Laidley and soon-to-be 16 at Gatton.
This brings the total number of funded beds to 26 for a population of 43,000.
