New Women's & Children's Hospital costs too much

Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis MP has expressed alarm and dissatisfaction at the seemingly ever-rising cost to build a new Women and Children’s Hospital, after a further announcement this week that another $1billion has been added to the bill.

“While I am sure there will be a great many people in our electorate who gain a benefit from having a new WCH it is an unfathomably large bill for another new hospital in Adelaide,” Mr Ellis said.

“Such is the ease with which health improvements are made in the city the new Government was able to find an extra billion dollars and are willing to raze state heritage listed buildings to enable their new plan to happen.

“Contrast that with regional health where we have to beg and plead for even the most basic concessions. We are heartily sick of it.”

He called into question the overall costs of the project.

“The first question I asked in a briefing yesterday is why does it cost so much to build a new hospital when the new, private Calvary Hospital was reportedly built at a comparable size for only $350 million,” Mr Ellis said.

“While there were answers provided which might explain some increase in the overall cost, such as the addition of a co-located car park, extra services and more equipment and others, the bill still seems like an extraordinary amount to me.

“Surely the Government can get the bill down to somewhere closer to the Calvary build so that rural communities, such as in the Narungga electorate, can have some extra money for our facilities which continue to be chronically under-staffed and falling apart.”