By MATT NICHOLLS
TONY Windsor has slammed NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner for her handling of the Armidale Hospital redevelopment, labelling it “the most disgraceful thing within the electorate”.
The former Member for New England said Ms Skinner was to blame for the state of the hospital.
Mr Windsor said Armidale Hospital was the only hospital in the country to be removed from a federal list for the $1.8 billion Health and Hospital Fund, founded by him and fellow Independent Rob Oakeshott.
The hospital was on the list for the initial round of funding, but missed out, along with many others around the country.
“The issue was that some hospitals couldn’t get their paperwork together quick enough,” Mr Windsor said.
“Tamworth Hospital had been working on their plan for five years so they took advantage of that.
“So what we did is split off around half a billion dollars for a second round of funding.
“Hunter New England Health put together a plan, which met that criteria and that’s when Jillian Skinner decided that, ’no, if we recommend Armidale that will make Richard Torbay look good’.
“Torbay was an Independent MP at the time.”
Mr Windsor said the decision to remove Armidale from the second round of funding was “deliberate”.
“What she did in my view was something that should have been investigated quite thoroughly,” he said.
“In my view, it’s the most disgraceful thing within the electorate.”
Mr Windsor said there would have been no guarantee that Armidale would have received the necessary $60 million required for the redevelopment, but said the presence of the medical school would have made it tough to be rejected.
“In total, 135 regional hospitals took advantage of that Health and Hospital Fund,” he said.
“The Armidale scenario was a disgrace.”
Ms Skinner declined to answer questions put forward to her by the Armidale Independent.
Instead, she reiterated the State Government’s commitment of $10 million to the hospital.
“The NSW Government committed $10 million towards the redevelopment of Armidale Hospital on the basis the Federal Government contributed $50 million from the Commonwealth Health and Hospitals Fund,” she said.
“Our offer remains on the table,” she said.
“The redevelopment of Armidale Hospital is a high priority of the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government.
“The Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, has invited me to Armidale to discuss what steps are needed to secure further funding for the redevelopment.
“I expect to visit Armidale in coming weeks.”
Mr Windsor said the $10 million offer came after Mr Torbay became the Nationals’ federal candidate for New England.
“The last conversation I had with Richard Torbay is when he rang me in a state of panic around January/February 2012,” he said.
“The Armidale Hospital had just been taken off the list and he asked me ’what do I do?’.
“I told him that he needed to get stuck into them. I said ’Richard, they have dudded you’.
“He decided to go down a different path.”
