Ballina Hospital needs own ‘head’

BALLINA Hospital needs its own executive officer, mayor Phillip Silver has told NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt.

At a meeting with the Minister last week, Cr Silver said that Ballina Hospital should not be forced to share the fundamental position with Lismore Base Hospital.

“I met with the Minister and I feel that I managed to get across some of the issues we are having at Ballina Hospital,” he said.

“I really do believe that there is a need for the hospital to have its own executive officer.

“There is also a desperate need for a career medical officer because there has been a dramatic decline in the number of visiting medical officers coming to Ballina Hospital.

“At one stage it was almost at crisis point.”

Although local government has no direct responsibility for hospitals, Cr Silver said mayors across the region often felt it was their duty to speak up on serious issues.

Ms Tebutt made no promises to Cr Silver, but he said he was pleased that she ‘took our concerns on board’.

“She agreed to have a look at the matters,” he said.

“I think that the meeting went quite well.

“Ballina Hospital is a modern hospital with 80-odd beds.

“It’s in a growing area with an aging demographic.

“The hospital is a vital part of the services in our shire.

“It’s in everybody’s interests to keep it as a viable and working hospital.

“If that happens, Ballina Hospital can really help to take off some of the pressure that’s being put on Lismore Base Hospital.”