The State Government said keeping the Batemans Bay Hospital Emergency Department open would be unsafe for the local community.
The E-D is set to shut when the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital opens in March next year despite a vocal campaign by residents angrily against the move.
But the Premier Chris Minns said during an on-site visit to Moruya, he and local MP Michael Holland want to ensure the Eurobodalla has access to world class health facilities.
“World class means that you’ve got a concentration of talent and you’ve got the best available doctors and nurses and equipment you can muster in an area,” Mr Minns said.
“I mean the view was, and I think I have to agree with it, it wouldn’t be safe to run that level of emergency departments in two are closely located to each other because one would suffer at the expense of the other,” he said.
“In the middle of the night and in the middle of winter something could go wrong and at that point people would be the finger at myself and the doc (Dr Michael Holland) and we want to make sure these are operational. It’s not easy to recruit health professionals for these positions, particularly in intensive care and the emergency departments.
“This is the safest best way we can do it. I know it’s not pleasing everybody Darren but we think this is the right call for the region.”
Mr Minns dismissed suggestions his government has failed to listen to community anger of the pending closure of the Batemans Bay Hospital Emergency Department.
The Save Batemans Bay Hospital ED Group claims their serious concerns, including a petition opposing the shut down in March next year signed by over 18,000 people, has been ignored.
The Premier said despite objections to moving all emergency care to the new hospital, it is the right decision.
“We have listened. I promise you we have. I mean the Doc (Dr Michael Holland) has listened to them. I have too so has the Health Minister,” Mr Minns said.
“We haven’t just left it up to public servants or bureaucrats to make the decision. We assessed it and the main criteria we came down to i
The Premier said interest in new jobs at Eurobodalla Regional Hospital has been good.
“We’ve done a massive expressions of interest program trying to get people interested in working in the new hospital,” Mr Minns said.
“We’ve had 200 EOI’s, which is roughly where we think we need to be when it comes to recruiting and filling out the hospital,” he said.
