THE state’s shadow health minister has renewed calls for State Government to accelerate solutions to ease the carpark shortage at Mount Gambier Hospital.
The call comes as Mount Gambier Hospital management continues to canvass options for the carpark expansion amid ongoing frustrations with motorists.
While Limestone Coast Local Health Network has had plans for a 60-space car park drawn up, it has yet to announce the project will go ahead.
The issue reached flashpoint late last year when motorists ripped timber post bollards from the ground in several sections of the hospital carpark.
Some of these timber bollards still lay in the hospital grounds and have not been removed or reinstated.
Labor Party health spokesperson Chris Picton – who visited the Mount Gambier Hospital in November – said months had gone by and there had been no action at the site.
“It is really disappointing that nothing has progressed,” Mr Picton told The Border Watch this week.
He said this issue was pressing for community members, patients and staff who needed to park at the major regional hospital.
Mr Picton – who has described the carpark as “bursting at the seams” – said hospital management had been putting solutions forward but there appeared to be a lack of funding commitment flowing from the State Government.
“There needs to be a level of urgency. This is a relatively straight forward project – this is a shun to the people of Mount Gambier and the South East,” he said.
“This is not a complex project. They are not building a new hospital or a sporting stadium – this is a carpark.”
Given the expansive hospital grounds, Mr Picton called for both long-term and temporary solutions to address the problem.
He said there was ample land to accommodate the project and short term measures to be rolled out.
Mr Picton said spaces – currently taken up by hospital employees – could be opened up to the public as a stopgap measure.
During his visit last year, the Labor MP urged Health Minister Stephen Wade – who has also seen the car park first-hand – to fund the project.
A Limestone Coast Local Health Network spokesperson this week said negotiations were continuing on the issue.
“We are aware of the need for additional car parking at Mount Gambier Hospital and are in the process of negotiating a range of options to expand availability,” the spokesperson said.
The Border Watch contacted Mr Wade’s office for comment.
