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 Home News General
Concern over the future of Melbourne Hospital29 November 2005The future of Melbourne’s Freemasons Hospital has been thrown into doubt after management announced plans to sell the health facility to a consortium made up of Epworth Hospital and ING Real Estate. The HSU is particularly concerned that the consortium may have plans to turn the East Melbourne site into residential apartments similar to those flagged for the adjacent Mercy Hospital site. One thousand jobs and 170 cancer treatment beds are at risk with no guarantee that the Freemasons East Melbourne and Victoria Parade sites will continue to be health facilities after the sale. Although Freemasons has previously insisted that only hospital operators were short listed for the sale, management failed to inform the HSU that at least one bid included a major property developer. HSU Victorian branch secretary, Jeff Jackson,said that any plans to turn the hospital into apartments could result in the loss of services that benefit thousands of Victorians every year. "We have real concerns that plans are afoot to turn the East Melbourne site into penthouses," Mr Jackson said. "We urge Freemasons to assure both workers and the Victorian community that this site - which houses thousands of cancer patients each year - will continue to be a hospital well into the future." Mr Jackson said that hospital management met with some workers late yesterday but refused to provide any information in relation to the hospital's future. "Workers and the union have been kept completely in the dark about future plans for the hospital - with the exception of a vague memo released to staff late on Friday night," Mr Jackson said. Mr Jackson said that the HSU was very concerned that the blanket of secrecy indicated that valued services and staff could be cut. "The Freemasons is renowned for its cancer treatment and maternity services. It would be a great tragedy to see any of these services closed to Victorian families," Mr Jackson said. Mr Jackson said that the union would meet with workers on Thursday to talk about the hospital's future.
"Workers will not just stand by and let the future of their hospital come under threat," Mr Jackson said. |
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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU) |
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