WE felt we had struck it lucky as we enjoyed a nice meal and chatted in a quiet room at the Mildura Private Hospital.
As public patients, another man and I had just undergone hip replacement surgery at the Mildura Base Public Hospital, but due to a lack of beds, we were transferred to the Private Hospital for our post-operation recovery.
It all made sense. If there were beds available at a hospital across the road, and we didn’t require doctors to be on hand, then why not?
A few days later, after sharing our post-surgery journey together, we both limped away grateful for the professionalism, skill and care we had received at both hospitals.
What we had experienced was health care at its finest. Right here in Mildura.
A few months ago, Mildura councillor Stefano de Pieri floated a bold proposal in the Sunraysia Daily that would bring Mildura’s public and private hospitals together.
The working partnership, he suggested, would involve a sharing of staff resources and space, and was welcomed at the time by the head of the state’s Health Department.
Health Department Secretary Professor Euan Wallace said the public-private collaborations, which had been necessary in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, had already been shown to be practical across the state, and many were ongoing.
“There will be public patients in metro Melbourne today who are having their surgery in a private hospital,” he said.
“During the pandemic … there was a much closer relationship between public and private hospitals.
“In fact, the health response in Victoria … was dependent on the private sector and some of those relationships are enduring.”
Prof Wallace said the pressures of the pandemic had opened up new ways of thinking in the provision of health care and “we should learn from those”.
What my experience at both the public and private hospitals in Mildura earlier this month showed was just how well it can work.
While there would undoubtedly be complexities in forging such a partnership, that shouldn’t stop our health and community leaders from having some open conversations.
As it stands, the Victorian Government has health care in the northern Mallee in a cruel holding pattern.
Community pleas to the State Government for a new hospital to replace the undersized and outdated Base with an all-new facility have so far been fruitless.
The government is yet to release its $2.1 million master plan for health care in the northern Mallee, even though it was completed more than a year ago and was due for release in April, 2022.
This is despite former Victorian Government Health Minister Martin Foley saying during a visit to the Mildura Base Public Hospital a few years back that the facility was no longer fit for purpose.
Last year, the government said this in a statement: “The master plan has been finalised for Mildura Base Hospital which recommended a brownfields site,” a government spokesperson said.
“We’ll now work through what that might involve including costs, sequencing, staging, decanting and other planning and compliance work associated with redeveloping the existing hospital.”
No costings, no design, no timeline.No anything.
Cr de Pieri’s point was that Mildura cannot wait forever for the cavalry to arrive.
He suggested that a partnership could overcome many of the region’s public health shortfalls, while also providing better services for private patients who often could not get the full benefits of their cover in a remote area.
“Having the private and the Base working together as one would create more beds, provide better care and show the government that if they are not prepared to fund a new hospital, then we will get on as a community and find our own solutions,” he said.
“In the meantime, the pollies can slug it out among themselves in Spring Street.”
The idea could have merit and my own personal experience is an example of how clinically the two agencies are working together to improve healthcare for our region.
To the staff at both the public and private hospitals who cared for me during my brief stay, thank you. I couldn’t have been in better hands.
