Statement from Dr Kelly AM MP: Eurobodalla health

Today drew an apology from the organisers of last weekend's public meeting advising that they had NOT invited Dr Mike Kelly, Federal Member for Eden Monaro, to their public meeting held in Moruya on Saturday centred around the issue of the community pursuing a single regional hospital to service the Eurobodalla region into the future. Our Town Our Say provided the following apology to The Beagle "I refer to a recent public meeting at Moruya Golf Club held on Saturday 6th October 2018 hosted by Our Towns Our Say to which invitations were sent to several politicians, candidates and councillors. At that meeting, I wrongly stated that member for Eden-Monaro, Dr Mike Kelly had been invited but had not responded to our invitation. "On checking through my emails sent on 17th September, I discovered that Dr Mike Kelly was in fact not included on the list. I take full responsibility for this mistake and apologise to Dr Mike Kelly for any embarrassment this may have caused him. Yours sincerely, Coral Anderson" The Beagle today contacted Dr Kelly inviting him to offer his comments, should he have been present at Saturday's meeting. Statement from Dr Kelly AM MP:

As Member for Eden-Monaro I have been keen to get a commitment from state and federal governments to upgrade the health services and facilities in the Eurobodalla region and settle on a plan for a new hospital. I secured $12 million in funding for transitional care beds and an upgrade to the oncology unit at Moruya Hospital when Labor was in Government as an interim measure, as well as securing funding for expansion of the Queens Street Medical Practice in Moruya. I also worked hard with state and federal governments to gain funding to get the new South East Regional Hospital built in Bega and to establish a General Practice in Tuross Heads.

Our community relies on local hospitals to keep us healthy and well. Our hardworking nurses and doctors do an amazing job under incredible pressure and I call on the State Government to commit to a plan and timeline for a single, unified hospital to offer a solution for the community’s health needs in the Eurobodalla region.

The health needs of the community have been significantly impacted by the decision of the Liberal National Federal Government to tear up Labor’s historic health and hospital funding agreement. In Government, Labor established historic agreements with record funding levels for public hospitals, including a capital building fund and additional funding to address elective surgery and emergency department waiting times. Unfortunately, the Federal Liberal National Government, together with the neglect of their State colleagues, have undermined rural and regional health care in NSW.

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