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Tuesday 10 May 2022
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On track
Work on safety improvements at Nat’s Track have been completed. Frankston student Natalie Russell was taken from the track and killed in 1993. The recent reopening of the track was attended by her parents Brian and Carmel as well as state MP David Limbrick, who was her partner at the time of her death (pictured left to right). See story page 4. Picture: Supplied
Billion dollar bill for hospital redevelopment Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au MORE money is being spent upfront on the Frankston Hospital redevelopment. The state budget released last week confirmed that the cost of the project would be more than $1.118 billion. The state government said the redevelopment would cost $562 million when it was first announced in 2018. The Times sent Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke questions asking what the
extra funding would be used for. In response, a state government spokesperson said “we’re now delivering a much more significant hospital redevelopment that will deliver better health outcomes for families living in Melbourne’s southeast from day one.” Last month a consortium signed on to deliver the project, which is a public-private partnership. The private Exemplar Health consortium will design, build, and finance facilities and maintenance at the site for the next 25 years, while Peninsula Health will deliver the clinical healthcare
services (“Contract signed for huge hospital project” The Times 26/5/22). The state government insists that the cost of the project remains within approved funding across the 25-year period, with no additional cost to the taxpayer over the whole project term. The budget papers read that the “scope” of the project had been expanded since it had become a publicprivate partnership. “This project is a public-private partnership where the upfront capital investment has resulted in additional scope and whole of life benefits while remaining within
the project’s affordability benchmark,” the budget read. “The estimated completion date has been revised to 2025-26 to reflect the completion date of the new hospital tower by the end of 2025, with the redevelopment operational in early 2026 and remaining refurbishment and other works completed by 2027-28.” The hospital project is expected to include construction of a multi-storey clinical services tower, more operating theatres, upgraded mental health, oncology, and maternity services, and a new car park. The state government
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will spend more than $215 million on the upgrade in the 2022/2023 financial year. The state government’s 2022/2023 budget also included funding for another hospital project, upgrades at local schools, and for streetscape works. However there was no funding allocated for the long-discussed extension of the Frankston line to Baxter, prompting fury from a local advocacy group which has been pushing for the project for years. Continued page 3