Deputy Mayor Speaks Out On Hospital

20150515 South Burnett Private Hospital — The 22-bed South Burnett Private Hospital … a decision on whether the SBRC will run it has been postponed until January

Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell (Photo: SBRC)

January 27, 2015

At a special meeting of the South Burnett Regional Council called on Thursday, January 21 to discuss the future of the South Burnett Private Hospital, Councillors voted 5 to 2 to take over the hospital’s licence.

They also voted to invest up to $150,000 to hire a medical professional to create a business plan for the hospital’s future operations.

A due diligence report prepared in the latter part of 2015 by consultants Ernst & Young disclosed previous operator Pulse Health made losses running the hospital in the two years prior to ceasing to operate the facility on June 30, 2015.

But in the previous decade the hospital had run at a modest profit.

Councillors were told there was a fair possibility it might do so again if it took advantage of recent changes in Queensland Health’s funding procedures.

Deputy Mayor Cr Keith Campbell was one of the five councillors who voted to follow up the due diligence report with further investigation of the hospital’s potential, and he has asked soutburnett.com.au to republish a speech he gave at the meeting.

We believe his comments provide an insight into current thinking on the issue, and in the interests of informed public debate we are happy to do so.

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Mr Mayor and Councillors:

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the resolution. I want to explain a few points about why I support this recommendation.

Firstly, I believe the hospital plays an essential role in our regional health services, and that is worth fighting for.

Secondly, I am committed to ensuring that as a Councillor I act in a way that is responsible to all ratepayers, as well as Council’s finances.

Thirdly, I’m not into soft options and a “do nothing” approach that just looks at today.

Our region sits at an intersection where the decision we make today will either create or lose our social and economic security.

And as much as this decision is about today, I believe we also need a vision for the South Burnett’s future.

This facility is needed now, and it will be needed well into the future.

And I’d like to think generations to come to will one day thank us for having a vision and making decisions that they benefit from.

In speaking to the first point, the due diligence report we commissioned has disclosed that running the hospital is not profitable unless there are much greater numbers of patients using it.

I accept this. I’ve got the message.

However, the professionals who can contribute to making this hospital work are our South Burnett doctors and other health services professionals.

So I’m supporting this resolution because I believe they hold the key to helping us develop a new model drawn up using their local knowledge about their patients’ medical histories.

Our local health professionals were not included in the due diligence report, which focussed purely on financial analysis.

But their knowledge would be an invaluable help in formulating future plans.

I won’t pretend that I know how the hospital can be used in future to ensure it makes money.

But I want to ensure every stone is turned to produce an operating model that makes a profit, or one which is at least cost-neutral.

And I believe engaging our local doctors and health professionals in this process is essential.

In speaking to my second point about acting responsibly, if a new model can’t be achieved that produces a positive cash-flow, the next step would be to recognise that Council has a valuable asset sitting in Markwell Street that should be producing a return for our ratepayers.

So in this case, the next port of call would be to invite expressions of interest from others to conduct a business, be it medical-oriented or not.

And if that in turn failed to deliver a return on Council’s investment, the only other practical option is to sell the asset and apply the funds to debt reduction or some other purpose within Council.

Let me be perfectly clear about this – I won’t support any call on our ratepayers to fund deficits.

In regard to my third point, I am not afraid to invest up to $150,000 to help develop a new business model to operate the hospital.

And for those who say this is wasting ratepayers’ money, I’d like to compare this to the cost of running a number of other Council facilities that are used by only a small percentage of ratepayers.

Let’s take swimming pools, for example.

It costs Council around $800,000 a year to keep the doors of our pools open.

That’s $800,000 each year and every year. Not a once-off cost, but every year.

But just try talking about closing a swimming pool to see what type of public reaction you get!

The investment by our ratepayers is not limited to just swimming pools that only a few people use.

But that is what the South Burnett community is – we are all shareholders in this big picture for the region.

So don’t segment us and don’t try to pitch one against the other.

We need to be proud of our South Burnett.

Proud that we can have the swimming pools, libraries, halls and beautiful parks we have; proud that we can give generous support to the many not-for-profit community organisations that contribute so much to our vibrant social fabric.

And as has been the case for many years, proud that we can have a private hospital that provides employment, industry, medical services, palliative care and specialists services that are needed by many of our residents.

I’d like to ask the naysayers “why aren’t you proud of this?”

As a region, we are self-sufficient, resilient and capable of creative solutions to challenges.

This situation calls for unity of purpose – a strong and stable South Burnett, and one where we can put our best foot forward and work with those who are skilled and willing to put their money where there mouth is.

What we are talking about is investing $150,000 to develop a business plan that must show a cost-neutral bottom line as a minimum, and a profit if at all possible.

Yes, it’s an investment that may start out as an expense.

But I believe with the right players involved, it will become an asset and an income stream for our ratepayers and residents through wages, less travel costs and Council enjoying an appropriate ROI for its investment.

If the business plan does not produce the result we expect, the $150,000 cost does not continue year after year.

And if it’s unsuccessful, then we can resort to the other options that I spoke about earlier.

I believe the hospital is a cornerstone of the South Burnett’s community fabric, and it provides a level of security for those who move into the area and want access to visiting specialists and private facilities.

I have constantly had people ask me about the visiting specialists – people right throughout the South Burnett.

I have also heard it said that some people will move away to be closer to health facilities if we lose this facility, and some of our highly skilled doctors may relocate as well if this all falls through.

Finally, what has stimulated my desire to support this resolution is the support that has been given to the Mayor by Queensland Health; the support he has received from a number of other hospital operators he has visited; and even more importantly than that, the support, commitment and determination that our region’s health professionals have shown for this venture.

I cannot speak for all of them, but I can personally speak for some who have given me their time to discuss the issues.

They tell me they are prepared to give their best efforts and support to keep the hospital open.

The reality is that the best way to ensure the hospital remains functional is to have this buy-in from our local medical professionals.

I want to thank the Mayor for the enormous amount of time and effort he’s already expended to find a solution.

I want to thank the doctors who’ve spoken to me, as well as the members of the public.

All of you contributed something towards firming my view we have to do our level best to try to keep this hospital open.

If it doesn’t work, then I can believe we did our best with a clear conscience, because we will not have walked away without a fight.

For these reasons, I support today’s resolution in its entirety.

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