By JESSE GRAHAM
PALLIATIVE care at Healesville Hospital will move down the line for 18 months as part of the hospital’s long-awaited redevelopment, with works beginning next month.
By 28 September, work will be well underway to redevelop the Healesville and District Hospital, after the funds were announced in late 2013 and added to earlier this year.
The $8.8 million redevelopment will bring renal dialysis to the hospital, as well as a new surgical theatre and updated patient amenities.
But key services, such as palliative care and x-ray, will be moved out of town for the duration of the development, meaning those nearing the end of their life may be located at Eastern Health hospitals in Ringwood, Box Hill,
Ferntree Gully or Wantirna – all roughly an hour away from Healesville.
X-ray services will be located at Lilydale Radiology, which bulk-bills for pension and healthcare card holders, as well as other hospitals in the outer-east.
Save Healesville Hospital Action Group (SHHAG) chair Fiona McAllister said the group was “disappointed” that the services would not still be provided in town.
Acknowledging the difficulty of providing palliative care during the construction, Ms McAllister said the move would be still hard on families who did not have their own transport.
“Not everyone has access to transport,” she said.
“Imagine doing a three-hour trip each way, every day, when you’re also in the traumatic situation of losing a loved one – it doesn’t even bear thinking about.”
“I know HICCI and others do the best they can to transport people up to Lilydale or Wantirna … (but) it’s not going to be an easy 18 months for the community.”
Public transport from Healesville to any of Eastern Health’s other site involves at least one bus and one train, though only the Angliss Hospital and Box Hill Hospital are located close to train stations.
Eastern Health’s Yarra Ranges chief of Clinical and Site Operations, Lisa Lynch said it was “unfortunate” that palliative care would not be provided in Healesville through the redevelopment, but defended the decision and said safety and comfort were factors.
“We understand the importance of providing a hospital environment that is free of dust, dirt and noise,” she said.
“We will work closely with patients and their families to find suitable alternative arrangements during this period – this may include our specialised inpatient unit in Wantirna.”
“We also have hospital-based palliative care consultation teams based at Maroondah Hospital, Box Hill Hospital and Angliss Hospital.”
When asked about the possibility of working with an aged-care provider in town to provide palliative care in town, an Eastern Health spokesperson said that nursing home palliative care was not the same as in an “acute hospital setting”.
This was due to specialised services in hospitals, the spokesperson said, adding that Eastern Health would “work closely with patients and families to find accommodation and hospital-based care.”
Ms Lynch said that Yarra Valley Community Health and the GP clinic would continue to operate during the redevelopment, as will pathology, respiratory, cardiology and endocrinology outpatient services and antenatal and postnatal maternity services.
