A promise by the Liberal Party to progress the co-located hospital could be a boon for Launceston to help attract specialists to the area, however an independent health expert has raised issues over cost.
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Premier Peter Gutwein announced this week as part of the party's full health policy, that his government would set a memorandum of understanding with Calvary Healthcare to progress the $100 million co-located hospital bid.
Launceston-based GP Jerome Muir Wilson said the project had the potential to help attract specialist medicos to the area, if it had the right support.
"The co-located hospital project at the LGH will be a really good project for the region and it's pleasing to see it given support by the Liberal party," Dr Muir Wilson said.
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However, independent health analyst Martyn Goddard said he had concerns about whether Calvary's unsolicited bid would be viable.
"That private hospital co-located at the LGH will not happen," he said.
Dr Goddard said he didn't believe Calvary had the funds available to support the bid without government intervention.
The Tasmanian Liberal Party has stated in its policy that within 30 days of being re-elected it would sign a memorandum of understanding with Calvary to allow the project to proceed.
However, the policy stopped short of offering any financial commitment from the government.
The Calvary bid has sat with the Coordinator-General's office for two years, and it's been three years since the bid was announced. Work on the project has stalled and it's sat dormant with no progress. The co-located hospital has been supported by both major parties in the past, but Labor has not announced if it will feature in its health policy, which has not been released.
It's understood that Labor is working to release a Tasmania Action Plan, which will detail its policies closer to polling date.
However, postal votes for the election open on Tuesday. Dr Wilson said the private hospital would help to free up emergency department space at the LGH, to take away some of the burden from the public system.
It would also help to attract specialists to the area, something that has plagued Launceston and Tasmania for years.
Specialist doctors and allied health professionals are choosing not to relocate to Tasmania, which has left the state vulnerable.
Tasmania is forced to rely on expensive fly-in, fly-out locums, who offer only limited times for patients.
Dr Goddard said a major issue with the proposal was the co-location, something Dr Muir Wilson said was a positive.
"The site is landlocked, there is no room, and that space is needed for the public services," Dr Goddard said.
Dr Wilson said the strength of the proposal was in the co-location, because it would allow better resource sharing between the sites.
Calvary Healthcare was contacted for comment on their reaction to the proposal and if they would seek financial commitment.