January 14, 2016
South Burnett Mayoral candidate Mike Brown has criticised Mayor Wayne Kratzmann and current Councillors for “wasting the money and time of ratepayers” by investigating the possibility of running the South Burnett Private Hospital.
He has also accused the Council of misleading ratepayers by not previously disclosing the hospital lost nearly $300,000 in the past two years.
The accusations come just a week before the Council will meet to decide the future of the facility.
Last year Mr Brown said the private hospital was running at a loss due to changing demographics in the region.
He said the Mayor and Council were set on forcing a private hospital on a population that has already shown it can’t sustain it.
“Otherwise it would have remained open and viable under Pulse Health, or would have been re-opened by another operator skilled in managing health facilities in regional areas,” Mr Brown said.
Mr Brown said he believed delaying tactics had been used to push the decision as close as possible to the election in order to secure a position for the current Mayor on the board of the hospital after his time in Council.
“Every time I have raised the matter of the private hospital with Councillors Campbell and Tessmann, they have very clearly and firmly told me that all decision making rests with the Mayor. Yet when one of them is away, the decision about the hospital is suddenly dependent on them?” he said.
“Doctors and specialists have not been kept informed of any decision making and to the best of my knowledge, all specialists and doctors have now made other arrangements for their private patients, showing that the lack of the private hospital has had no lasting impact on patient care.”
Mr Brown said he wanted to see community effort directed at upgrading the Kingaroy General Hospital.
“I pushed that with the creation of a petition on Change.org last November that resulted in me meeting with Queensland Health about it,” he said.
“I believe that the people of the South Burnett deserve a top emergency department and facilities that are the best on offer for their health to cater to public and private patients, rather than a private hospital that is not sustainable – financially or in patient usage – and does not deal with emergencies.”
Mr Brown said that when he met with Queensland Health in December he questioned their decision to extend the private hospital licence.
“I don’t believe – and neither do other health professionals and State Members I have met with – that Councils should run hospitals, even with an administrator,” he said.
He said he stands for transparency in Council and believes the ratepayers should have been told “all the facts” about the hospital’s performance from the start.
He urged people to attend the Council meeting next week to question Council members about the hospital and find out the real costs to ratepayers if Council approved running it.
Related articles:
- Hospital’s Fate Decided Next Week
- South Burnett Private Hospital Decision Delayed
- Hospital Decision Soon
- Council To Vote On Running Hospital
- Council Candidate Claims ‘Ego, Emotion’ For Hospital Decision
- Talk Of ‘Plan B’ Angers Mayor
- Doors Still Open At Private Hospital
- Mayor Hits The Road
- What More Can We Do?
- Huge Response To Hospital Campaign
- Why I Want To Be Mayor
- Mayor Appeals For Public Support
- Council Still Looking For Hospital Operator
- Still A Glimmer Of Hope For Hospital
- Hospital Deadline Looming
- Council In Talks With Qld Health
- Why We Need Our Private Hospital
- Closure Would Be ‘Absolute Disaster’
- Fingers Crossed For Private Hospital
- Mayor Off To Brisbane For Hospital Talks
- Mayor Gutted Over Hospital Closure
