THE Maitland community is being "short-changed" on the hospital it was originally promised, says a resident who is questioning whether NSW Health and district bureaucrats are "dumbing down" services at the expense of future generations.
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Rod Doherty said the hospital had "miraculously shrunk" from the $766 million, 412-bed teaching hospital initially proposed in 2011, to the $470 million, 339-bed hospital currently under construction.
"Which in fact is around 282 beds when we take out day surgery type beds," Mr Doherty, a Cessnock councillor, said.
After the closure of the old Maitland Hospital, its 196 beds would be included in the new site's bed numbers.
"Hence the net increase is genuinely small for this rapidly growing regional area," he said. "Many of the services promised back in 2011 have mysteriously disappeared from the original service statement of 2013.
"Now we have a new hospital being service-compromised to save money or at the expense of ongoing reliance on John Hunter hospital for essential services."
The Maitland resident said the cost of the hospital has been a moving target for years.
He said an executive steering committee report originally quoted $766 million, then in 2014, it was predicted the new hospital would cost $698.5 million.
"It dropped to $450 million in 2015," he said.
"What will be the final cost, and at what cost to future services?"
Mr Doherty said the new hospital was missing "important services," such as a coronary care unit.
He said he had initially objected to the new hospital's location at Metford.
"Now, I just want what we were promised in 2011," he said. "We've got the bricks and mortar, where are the services? The Hunter Region Plan for 2036 and the Greater Newcastle Metropolitan Plan - of which Maitland and Cessnock are part - clearly recognise that the Maitland to Cessnock corridor is a growth area, and that an estimated 24,000 home sites are either planned or being planned over the next 20 years west of Maitland in these areas of the Hunter.
"To build a new hospital in the 21st Century and not give 100 per cent service to the current and future population is criminal."
A Health Infrastructure spokesperson said the $470 million new Maitland Hospital would offer a wider range of services and "significantly more beds" and treatment spaces.
"The redevelopment will deliver almost double the number of beds than the current facility," she said.
The new hospital would have new services such as an Emergency Short Stay Unit (ESSU), cardiac catheterisation laboratory, maternity assessment rooms and chemotherapy chairs.
She said it was standard practice to explore different options in the early planning stages of a new hospital to ensure the clinical services plan, and the future health needs of the community, were being met.
"Extensive consultation with hospital staff and the community occurs during this process," she said. "Planning for health services at the new Maitland Hospital has been undertaken in the knowledge that they will complement other health services offered at surrounding services, such as Kurri Kurri, Cessnock and John Hunter Hospital, which is undergoing a $780 million redevelopment.
"All health services in the region will operate as part of a cohesive network of health services to provide the best level of patient care for the community."
Upon the transfer of services from the existing to the new hospital, the existing Maitland Hospital site would be decommissioned and closed.
"The future use of the existing site is currently being determined," she said. "Construction of the new Maitland Hospital is progressing well and the hospital is on track to open in early 2022."
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