NEWS that most Border and North East public hospitals have limited operating cash and are relying on letters of financial support from the Department of Health is disturbing.
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This is not a one-off situation; many of the same hospitals have been in a similar financial position for some time and there is no sign of the situation improving in the short term.
Victorian auditor-general John Doyle, having presented a dire picture of the finances of the state’s 87 public hospitals in his report to Parliament, has declared a “mismatch” between hospital boards’ responsibilities in providing sustainable management and their ability to control funding because of limitations imposed by the Health Department.
Mr Doyle says the existing funding model does not provide enough money to public hospitals to meet the depreciation of assets.
Seventy per cent of Victorian hospitals are at high risk of not being able to replace infrastructure or assets, with the ongoing concern that health services provided by those hospitals may be at risk of closing in the future.
It’s a concern that has been echoed by the Victorian Healthcare Association’s Tom Symondson during his visit to the Border this week.
