Mildura Base Hospital timeline: How did we get here?

THE Victorian Government will announce on Friday that Mildura Base Hospital will be returned to public management.

What happened to get to this point?

1998: The Victorian Coalition Government, under Jeff Kennett, enters a 12-year agreement with Ramsay Health Care, with a three-year extension option, to build and operate a new public hospital in Mildura.

2000: The old Mildura Base Hospital closes and patients are transferred to the new hospital complex.

2001: Member for North Western Province Barry Bishop says “an extremely strong and noisy minority of people” objected to the concept and undermined the confidence of the community.

2012: Reclaim Mildura Base Hospital launches its fight to return Mildura Base Hospital to public management and ownership.

May 2012: Local doctors are among a crowd of more than 600 people who call for Sunraysia residents to act now to reclaim Mildura Base Hospital for public management.

June 2012: The Coalition Government, under Ted Baillieu, commissions an independent review of Ramsay Health Care’s delivery of services in Mildura, finding the hospital is providing a “good” and “acceptable” level of service.

July 2013: The hospital building is bought by the Coalition Government from the Motor Trades Association of Australia.

2013: The Napthine Government enters a five-year service agreement with Ramsay Health Care to 2020. The government is required to respond to a two-year option extending the agreement to 2022 by September 2019.

August 2013: A petition containing more than 2700 signatures calling for public management of Mildura Base Hospital is tabled in State Parliament by Member for Mildura Peter Crisp.

2015: Mildura Hospital Conversation, which encourages feedback from the public with a desire to see improved health outcomes and better conditions for staff at Mildura Base Hospital, is formed.

December 2018: Independent candidate Ali Cupper claims victory in the state election, a result largely attributed to her stance on returning the hospital to public hands.

May 2019: A survey by the Labor Government receives more than 2000 responses, with 90 per cent of respondents saying they wanted Mildura Base Hospital returned to public management.

August 2019: The government set to announce it will not extend Ramsay Health Care’s contract beyond 2020, meaning it will return to public hands after two decades.