THE South East community is pleading with the State Government to save the financially embattled Keith District Hospital amid fears its possible closure will put a significant strain on broader regional health facilities and ambulance services.
With more than 3000 people travelling through Keith from the Riddoch Highway each day, Keith hospital proponents have warned motorists along this route will potentially die without an accident and emergency in the rural township.
The state’s ambulance workers’ union is among those calling on government to throw a lifeline to hospital, which needs $240,000 to remain viable until June 30.
With the hospital on a financial knife-edge, hospital board officials are expected to meet with Health Minister Stephen Wade this week on the issue.
Ambulance Employees Association secretary Phil Palmer warned paramedics from Mount Gambier and other regional towns would have to travel long distances to ferry patients from the Keith area to South East hospitals if the Keith hospital closed.
“If the Keith Hospital shuts it will create additional work with ambulance crews having to drive long distances up and down the highway,” Mr Palmer said.
In particular, the hospital’s closure warned it could take ambulance crews away from Mount Gambier, Millicent and Naracoorte leading to longer response times in those areas.
He warned the distance from Keith to Mount Gambier was a large distance to travel for paramedics.
“This is a real concern for the region,” said Mr Palmer, who explained the region already needed additional ambulance transport crews.
“These do need to be beefed and improved in the South East.”
Additionally, he said volunteer crews in the region would also be placed under a larger strain.
Keith District Hospital Richard Vickery – who has been fighting to save the private operated hospital – declined to comment yesterday given the delicate discussions with the State Government.
But Keith District Hospital Action Group spokesperson Warren Ingerson warned yesterday the closure of the town’s hospital would have significant ramifications on the wider region’s health services.
He said warned other regional hospitals could potentially have to take patients who would normally be treated in Keith.
In particular, he warned the Dukes and Riddoch Highway in the Keith area were particular hotspots for serious accidents.
“More than 7000 people travel through Keith on the Riddoch and Dukes highway every day,” Mr Ingerson told The Border Watch.
Given Keith’s distance to Adelaide and Mount Gambier, he said the Keith area was heightened area for serious road crashes.
“People will die on these highways,” Mr Ingerson said.
Mr Ingerson revealed thousands of people from the broader Mount Gambier region travel along this route every week, which meant its closure could potentially affect anybody involved in a crash.
He also warned the closure of the hospital would place additional pressure on regional hospitals, such as Mount Gambier.
“It will have a major spin-offs to the whole region,” the hospital advocate said.
He said the amount of money the Keith Hospital needed to stay afloat was a “drop in the ocean” compared with the state’s wider health multi-million dollar budget.
