The intricate nuances of our bureaucratic society has been most evidently played out during the recent public sessions held by Southern NSW Local Health District (LHD) for the $120 million redevelopment of Goulburn Base Hospital.
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For those closely following the influx of hospital stories, the most recent news on the hydrotherapy pool is a case of the ‘Community versus the State’.
The Goulburn community has not received a timeline for the closure of Bourke Street Health Service; and now, the LHD has confirmed the hydrotherapy pool will not be included in the Base’s preliminary masterplan.
For some, this could be misperceived as a lack of communication between the LHD and the residents of Goulburn. It is worth noting that fewer than 20 people attended the public sessions, a strange occurrence for a particularly vocal unions district. Conversely, one could argue the sessions were, strategically or unintentionally, inadequately advertised and only closed meetings were organised in the lead-up to this announcement.
The result of this sleight of hand? A feeling the LHD’s attempt to include the public is a marketing tactic, rather than a progressive move in the moral direction.
A spokesperson for the LHD cited five per cent of patients admitted to Bourke Street Health Service or Goulburn Base Hospital used the hydrotherapy pool, and labelled it as such a ‘community resource’. And this is true.
The community raised money and maintained the life of the hydrotherapy pool. It is Goulburn’s child, raised in the loving arms of people who care for its future. And now, the child will be taken away by a powerful force no one can resist.
As the memories of the hydrotherapy pool slowly sink away, and the LHD promise future community consultations – or, a third party collaborator – another question slowly sprouts in the minds of the confused. What truly makes a hospital?
The masterplan presented – fluid and subject to change – shows a 2D map of buildings and roads. But what the map will never show is the way that Goulburn Base Hospital and Bourke Street Health Service intertwine to serve public health, and what that means to each patient. Intangible and so sometimes unnoticeable, there is a link between the two and the community; a link the LHD should advocate, but appears to have forgotten.
