Ang Kalatas Volume IV July 2014 Issue | Page 8

08 THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 10 | July 2014 STATE Blacktown Hospital redevelopment (at night) Campbelltown Hospital redevelopment Health services N ew South Wales is fortunate to have one of the best hospital systems in the world, where our immensely talented doctors, nurses and other health professionals are carrying out life-saving work every hour of the day. These men and women are achieving incredible results with NSW hospitals leading the nation when it comes to emergency treatment times and elective surgery. The NSW Government will keep giving our doctors and nurses the resources they need to deliver quality patient care. Last week’s state budget saw a record health budget of almost $20 billion to ensure we maintain the quality patient care we’ve come to expect in our emergency departments and wards. The budget committed $300 million for increased activity including funding for 80,000 extra emergency department admissions and 40,000 extra patient admissions to hospital, including 3,000 extra elective surgeries Since the election, we have significantly bolstered our clinical workforce, recruiting more than 4,100 extra nurses and midwives (2,800 full-time equivalent) and 1,400 extra doctors. We want the world-class health care being delivered to be matched by world-class facilities which is why the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government has embarked on one of the biggest hospital rebuilding programs the state has ever seen. We are spending almost $5 FROM THE PREMIER’S DESK SK MIKE BAIRD NSW Premier | @ @MikeBairdMP billion on the upgrade of hospitals and health facilities in our first term of government and the recent budget provided funding to begin new redevelopments at Westmead Hospital, Gosford Hospital, St George Hospital, Sutherland Hospital and a new Byron Central Hospital on the state’s far north coast. This is in addition to the hospital rebuilds already underway at Campbelltown Hospital, Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospitals, Hornsby, St George Emergency Department, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Tamworth, Bega, Parkes, Forbes, Port Macquarie, Lismore and Kempsey Hospitals, among other projects. The redevelopment of Westmead Hospital will be the biggest hospital building project ever undertaken in Western Sydney, which is home to so many of our multicultural communities. The first stage of the major redevelopment of the Westmead campus will be worth more than $400 million; the entire project when complete will cost over $1 billion and be the biggest hospital redevelopment in NSW. Westmead Hospital is iconic. Its name is synonymous with outstanding health care, thanks to the calibre of its staff, but its infrastructure is ageing and tired. My Government is determined to rebuild this great hospital so it can deliver frontline health care to the people of Western Sydney for decades to come. Redevelopments not only address the age of a hospital, but they help our hospitals function better. That’s why we are giving clinicians a big say wherever we embark on a new rebuilding project on issues to do with design, layout of wards and clinical priorities. I’m delighted to see and hear first-hand how morale in our health system is higher than ever before. Staff can see cranes in the air at their hospitals and new state-of-the-art facilities emerging before their eyes. Mike Baird is the 44th Premier of NSW. He was appointed Treasurer of NSW after the election of the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government in 2011. He was eventually appointed Minister for Industrial Relations. Previously, he served as Shadow Treasurer and as Shadow Minister for Energy, Finance and Youth Affairs. He was elected Member for Manly in 2007 after an 18-year banking career.