Wimmera Health Care Group refutes maintenance concerns at Dimboola District Hospital

Dimboola resident Rhonda Huf said people were uncertain about services at the hospital.

‘‘The doctor is leaving at the end of February and we haven’t heard whether we are getting another doctor,’’ she said.

Wimmera Health Care Group chief executive Chris Scott said they had been in the recruiting process since last year.

‘‘We are attempting to recruit a fully registered doctor to live and work in Dimboola,’’ he said.

‘‘We have local coverage to ensure we have a doctor on site and available.’’

Mr Scott said clients should follow their normal course of action to see a doctor at the hospital.

Mrs Huf said she was also concerned about the recent decline in acute care beds.

‘‘I’m worried that there are only two acute care beds at Dimboola,’’ she said.

‘‘Many years ago, before Wimmera Health Care Group took over, we had 22 beds. We then went to four and now to two.’’

Mr Scott said the hospital retained 30 bed licences and changed the number of acute beds according to demand.

‘‘We do that as the community ages and the demographic changes,’’ he said.

‘‘We are being dynamic and we are in a strong position given that we have the bed licenses which allows us to provide a mix of services.

‘‘We still have 30 beds at Dimboola, but we are using them more productively than we have in the past.’’

Mr Scott said the hospital could change according to community need.

Mrs Huf said residents were entitled to know what Wimmera Health Care Group was doing to maintain services in the wake of staff leaving.

‘‘Some staff were offered redundancies, some staff have left because they are sick of the place and some people have been terminated,’’ she said.

‘‘Dimboola feels left out. Instead of going forward we seem to be going backwards.’’

Mr Scott said no services had been lost as a result of changes at the hospital.

‘‘We have terminated some employees on performance issues and those positions have been replaced,’’ he said.

‘‘It is the normal process of managing a complex organisation – we have staff turnover.

‘‘We also want to ensure we deliver the best possible care so we monitor staff closely.’’

Mr Scott was chief executive of Dimboola District Hospital from 1989 to 1994 and again from 2003 onwards.