Mr MILLS - 1999-08-10
One of the major issues confronting my electorate is health care for residents outside the CBD and the northern suburbs. I had the great pleasure of joining the Chief Minister at the announcement that construction would soon begin on the site of the Palmerston health precinct. I ask the minister - and no doubt that my constituents will be keen to hear - when will they see a building arising?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,this is a great initiative. I am pleased to say that the new member for Blain is a worthy successor to Barry Coulter who puts Palmerston first, and not only just now that he is elected. During the campaign he made a point of coming and talking to me about this precinct, about the problems. Instead of running various little trite, negative news items in the press, he sought to run a positive line and he did so.
There are significant services already in Palmerston. We will be building on a greenfield site at Lot 9 in Palmerston and moving Chan Park from the site where it currently is at a cost of some $4m. The Uniting Church Frontier Services are geared up. A final lease agreement is expected to be signed this month. We expect the new Chan Park to be built in the early part of next year, with completion in the latter part of next year.
I also can inform the House that through budget initiatives we will be moving to put headworks into that area. It is not merely a matter of putting up buildings. It is essential that we put in roads, power, water, sewerage and other essential services. There are some significant easements that cross the site and we will be looking to have those moved so that we can progress forthwith.
I have spoken to doctors in the area, to the St John Ambulance Service, to specialists and to the current owners of the Darwin Private Hospital, Healthscope. They are enthused by this proposal, and all confident that the government can achieve its ambition to see medical specialist suites in there, a pharmacy, a radiology department, allied health services, an ambulance service, a community care centre, which is currently in Palmerston and which we intend to move, a 24-hour GP service - something that the new member for Blain spoke long and hard about during the campaign - pathology, a 50-bed aged care facility at Chan Park - an additional 10 beds to what is there now - dental services, a step-down facility and day surgery.
We hope to provide services for people in Palmerston that would obviate the necessity for them to come to Royal Darwin Hospital. We’re hoping that in providing these services we can reduce the burden on Royal Darwin Hospital. We’re hopeful that, with facilities like the step-down facility, we can discharge people who may not be ready to go to their own homes back into their home community for care.
We are confident that we can get significant private-sector involvement in this. I know this is a problem for those opposite who don’t see any place for the private sector, but I can assure them that there are private practitioners and specialists coming to me already about this. They are enthused about it and they would like to be participants in it.
I can inform the new member for Blain that in the early part of next year, probably about April, we will see Chan Park being built on the greenfield site at Lot 9.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,this is a great initiative. I am pleased to say that the new member for Blain is a worthy successor to Barry Coulter who puts Palmerston first, and not only just now that he is elected. During the campaign he made a point of coming and talking to me about this precinct, about the problems. Instead of running various little trite, negative news items in the press, he sought to run a positive line and he did so.
There are significant services already in Palmerston. We will be building on a greenfield site at Lot 9 in Palmerston and moving Chan Park from the site where it currently is at a cost of some $4m. The Uniting Church Frontier Services are geared up. A final lease agreement is expected to be signed this month. We expect the new Chan Park to be built in the early part of next year, with completion in the latter part of next year.
I also can inform the House that through budget initiatives we will be moving to put headworks into that area. It is not merely a matter of putting up buildings. It is essential that we put in roads, power, water, sewerage and other essential services. There are some significant easements that cross the site and we will be looking to have those moved so that we can progress forthwith.
I have spoken to doctors in the area, to the St John Ambulance Service, to specialists and to the current owners of the Darwin Private Hospital, Healthscope. They are enthused by this proposal, and all confident that the government can achieve its ambition to see medical specialist suites in there, a pharmacy, a radiology department, allied health services, an ambulance service, a community care centre, which is currently in Palmerston and which we intend to move, a 24-hour GP service - something that the new member for Blain spoke long and hard about during the campaign - pathology, a 50-bed aged care facility at Chan Park - an additional 10 beds to what is there now - dental services, a step-down facility and day surgery.
We hope to provide services for people in Palmerston that would obviate the necessity for them to come to Royal Darwin Hospital. We’re hoping that in providing these services we can reduce the burden on Royal Darwin Hospital. We’re hopeful that, with facilities like the step-down facility, we can discharge people who may not be ready to go to their own homes back into their home community for care.
We are confident that we can get significant private-sector involvement in this. I know this is a problem for those opposite who don’t see any place for the private sector, but I can assure them that there are private practitioners and specialists coming to me already about this. They are enthused about it and they would like to be participants in it.
I can inform the new member for Blain that in the early part of next year, probably about April, we will see Chan Park being built on the greenfield site at Lot 9.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016