LIMESTONE Coast residents being treated at Adelaide’s North Eastern Community Hospital can access free accommodation during their stay as the Campelltown medical facility rolls out the red carpet to country patients.
NECH chief executive Michele Smith announced the offer yesterday, stating country families visiting the hospital’s specialists for surgery or to have a baby can stay free of charge in accommodation directly adjacent the site, subject to availability.
“We also know that it is not easy to travel long distances to Adelaide for surgery or to have a baby and then have to find accommodation,” Ms Smith said.
“Country patients already have to incur so many extra costs in terms of travel and other expenses, so we really want to be able to make things easier for them when they get here.”
Ms Smith acknowledged while the best place for country patients to receive healthcare was as close to home as possible, some surgeries and higher risk pregnancies meant regional people had to travel further afield.
“We have some of the best specialists in South Australia treating patients at North Eastern, supported by an excellent group of close-knit, experienced, long-serving nurses and midwives,” Ms Smith said.
“The accommodation, which is owned by the hospital, is literally right next door, which means patients only have to travel a very short distance to receive their treatment and can easily and quickly return to the privacy of their accommodation once they are discharged.”
North Eastern Community Hospital is a not-for-profit, community-owned private hospital, which offers services in maternity, gynaecology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology and oral, plastic and general surgery.
Patients can ask to be referred to a NECH specialist through their doctor.
