The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to continuing to build a better health service right across Tasmania, and we are delivering on our plan to invest in essential services.

Our brand new $12.1 million St Helens District Hospital, officially opened today, is a purpose-built facility on Annie Street which has been designed to cater for the current and future needs of the St Helens and greater East Coast community.

Our new hospital features 10 inpatient beds, four emergency bays, four consultation rooms and two physio rooms. It also provides allied health, radiology, community nursing, oral health, education and training, community nursing and treatment, and community activities.

The new hospital provides greater security of access to healthcare services by eliminating the risk of flooding events that have been experienced on the current hospital site.

Importantly, the East Coast community will have a most dignified palliative care facility, which will give families access to better services that can and should be available in the local area.

This has been a wonderful joint effort, with many in Break O’Day getting personally involved in the project. In an extraordinary effort, the St Helens Hospital Auxiliary raised more than $100,000 towards the new hospital, and furnished the palliative care family suite and patient rooms, with generous community donations. The Government pays special tribute to the Auxiliary for the exceptional efforts they have given to support the new district hospital.

The Hodgman Liberal Government has a comprehensive six-year health plan for Tasmania, which includes opening hundreds more beds across the state, employing more than 1000 additional frontline staff and building vital new health infrastructure like this so that all Tasmanians can get the care they need, when and where they need it.

It’s a far cry from the days when regional hospitals were being downgraded and closed under Labor. In contrast, we have committed to keeping our regional hospitals, and supporting them to provide more health care to local communities.