Lockhart residents were given a comprehensive tour of the redeveloped Lockhart Hospital on the weekend.
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The final stage of the redevelopment has brought the hospital into line with the Multi-Purpose Services (MPS) model set out for rural towns by the state government.
The $8 million development has added five aged care beds and ensuites for all bedrooms as well as providing enhanced facilities for medical professionals
travelling into the area and a new nurses residence next door.
Lockhart Local Health Advisory Committee (LHAC) chair Lorraine Hoffman said the project has been in the works since 2006 and was delighted to see the development come to fruition.
“It’s particularly important for our elderly residents,” she said.
“Before they were living in four-bed wards with very little privacy; now they have an ensuite and their own room.
“For many of these residents it is
their home now... you want them to be comfortable.
“Lockhart is an ageing population. We identified the need for a service that will help keep the older generation here instead of moving away from their homes into a larger area.”
Lockhart GP and visiting medical officer (VMO) Dr Ken Mackey welcomed the redevelopment and believes it will enhance the medical services on offer in the Lockhart community.
Dr Mackey said the updated facility will provide the Lockhart community with the ability to attract more health professionals to the town.
“If you’ve got a good facility it attracts doctors interested in having an expanded reach,” he said.
“There are doctors looking for that challenge that you can entice with what we’ve got here.
“It’s expanded the services that can be offered by Allied Health professionals which is a very important part of rural hospitals these days.”
Nurse Faye Rutledge was relieved to see the redevelopment completed after what she described as a “challenging experience” for hospital staff.
“It was hard because you come in and equipment has been moved around from where it was,” she said.
“People outside the health industry don’t realise how moving one piece of equipment from a cupboard can interrupt your routine.
“Obviously we’ve been delighted to see it (the redevelopment) happen but we’re relieved it’s done.”
Ms Rutledge said the upgrades were not limited to what people could see walking through on the day.
“There’s so much more that’s gone on that people can’t see walking into a room,” she said.
“We’ve now got things like movement detection in the rooms which is a comfort for us.
“I’d say the majority of the work that will help us you can’t see unless you climbed into the walls.”
Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire said the new facility would provide the Lockhart community with the best available services for a rural area.
The official opening of the redeveloped Lockhart Hospital will be held later this year.
