Election Promise for Scone Hospital
BY JEM ANSHAW
Deputy Premier Paul Toole along with member for our Upper Hunter Dave Layzell were doing the rounds in Scone on Tuesday morning.
They started off with the turning of the first sod on the CBD revitalization project, alongside Upper Hunter Shire mayor Morris Collison, councillors James Burnes, Allison McPhee and Adam Williamson and representatives from the Scone Chamber and business community.
A pledge of $103.2 million was then made to rebuild Scott Memorial Hospital in Scone, should votes go the way of the NSW Liberal and National Government later this month.
There is no clinical service plan at this point of time, meaning that consultation with staff and community will need to take place to identify the wants and needs of the area, but staff accommodation is set to feature in the project should it eventuate.
When pressed about what is being done to attract medical staff to the region, Mr Toole referenced a previous announcement that there are 10,000 health care staff being rolled out over the next four years.
“Out of those 10,000 new staff, 38 per cent of them are going to go to regional or rural New South Wales,” he said.
“We’ve also got incentives to actually attract workers into our communities, because we want to make sure that not only are we looking after those that are working in our communities today, but we’re also bringing some of the best into our local areas into the future as well.”
The final announcement for the day was another election promise, this time to start work on pre-kindergarten facilities in 19 public schools across the Upper Hunter, offering education to four-year-olds.
Denman, King Street, Ellerston, Martindale, Merriwa Central, Milbrodale, Mt Pleasant, Muswellbrook, Sandy Hollow, Scone and Singleton Heights Public Schools are all on the list to be among the first to have custom built facilities built to accommodate young learners getting a head start in their education.