More public healthcare for Euroa

On Friday, March 15, state Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes visited Euroa Health to announce that the Victorian Government is backing the collaboration between Euroa Health and GV Health, with a $5.5 million investment to deliver more care and upgrade the hospital.

Ms Symes said she couldn’t be more excited about the fantastic outcome for the Euroa community.

“I made a promise to this community on behalf of the Labor Government that services here would not close, but work had to be done,” she said.

“They’ve done that work. In collaboration with GV Health, acute services in Euroa will become public services and be here for now and into the future and as a public service.

“The process has not been forced by government, but supported by government.

“It’s a change, but the community have backed the unanimous decision from the members of GV health. Everyone’s really excited to see this come to fruition.”

Victorian Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said the plan would make it easier for the Euroa community to access free healthcare closer to home.

“Thousands of people in the Strathbogie region will benefit from this announcement, which will provide improved access to free acute care, help ease pressure on public health services in nearby towns and support local jobs,” she said.

Euroa Health first opened in 1927 and moved to its current site in 1929.

A lot of people have an emotional connection to the bush nursing hospital. However, over recent years, there have been increasing losses from running it as a private facility.

Euroa Health chief executive officer Melissa Seymour said that there has been a lot of positive support from the Euroa community, and having a local health service is exactly what they need.

“To now have a public hospital, it’s exactly what we need to take us into the future, to look after our community,” she said.

“It’s a win-win for all. We can look forward to the hospital expansion of services and also Euroa Health’s expansion of community and aged care services.

“The plan is it’s business as usual moving forward, and all employees of Euroa Health will retain their positions. We’ll work through the detailed transition for the acute staff to become employees of Goulburn Valley Health.

Euroa Health chairman Linsey Siede said he was delighted with the outcome and thanked Ms Symes for her dedication and commitment to helping the Euroa community.

“There has been a huge commitment from a lot of people over a lot of years to grow the facility to where it is now. So, for this community, it’s absolutely critical to retain these services,” he said.

“The biggest change will be that we will be moving the hospital from a bush nursing community-owned hospital, which is classified as private, and it will now become a public service. That is a huge change and a huge benefit for the community.

“We have one of the oldest communities in Victoria in Euroa. So it was very, very important to have these facilities and have the (acute) service available.”

GV Health chief executive Matt Sharp said there is currently no name for the new hospital site in Euroa but that members of Euroa Health and the Euroa community will have a strong say.

“What we've been able to do here with this partnership is build on that already strong relationship to come up with an outcome that will be great for this community in terms of access to health services well into the future,” he said.

“The sense of identity and connection that local people have with their health services is so important.

“The name will be something that has a strong link and connection with the local community.”

The implementation target date of acute services is July 1, with more services expected to be expanded over the next 18 to 24 months.