FOUNDING member of activist group Reclaim the Base Stephen Parr described the moment he learned Mildura Base Hospital would be handed back to public management as “emotional”.
Mr Parr, who works in Member for Mildura Ali Cupper’s office, has been advocating the hospital’s return for more than a decade and said it had been a “symbolic fight”.
“This was a hangover from a dark time in Mildura’s history,” he said.
“It’s so symbolic to have it brought back to public management. Our hospital was not considered or thought about by the government, unlike all the other hospitals were, and now it will be.”
In 2008, Mr Parr was paid by Ramsay Health Care to lead a project conducting extensive consultations and surveys to improve emergency department access for indigenous people.
He described the experience as “disheartening” and he felt questions needed to be asked.
“The work I did as a consultant resulted in a report which was put on the shelf because it would cost money,” he said.
“They marked the project as complete without using any of the money to implement the work that I’d done.”
Mr Parr reflected on times where he felt “under siege” during the campaign for the return of the hospital.
“The four of us that were there at the beginning with Reclaim the Base were at the official announcement yesterday and we were all incredibly emotional,” he said.
“We were under siege for so long. Before the last government signed that contract extension, we would meet every single night during the week.
“We were exhausted and thought nothing would ever change.”
Mr Parr said cancer victim Ilona Legin had played a significant role in driving change and recalled with admiration her courageous fight.
“Ilona was very inspirational to Reclaim the Base. She came along to meetings and everyone was so touched by her, which kept us going.
“When she passed away, her courage still kept us going.
“It was a strange notion because we were all new to one another, but so emotionally impacted and connected to Ilona’s story.”
