'Time to come clean': Are mergers on cards for south-west health services?

In parliament this week Ms Britnell said she had been asking questions about possible mergers for more than two years.

"Does the minister have plans to merge Portland? Does Port Fairy have the right into the future to have their own board?'

"Heywood is the same; Heywood hospital, are they going to have their own board into the future?

"Are they going to be able to determine what their health service needs are for their community and have a say in that?"

Ms Britnell said she also wanted answers about South West Healthcare.

"Is Warrnambool going to have their own health service that they can have a say on? Is it going to be the hub or is it going to be all swallowed up?

"It is time the minister came clean and told the community what the plan is, because the communities of Portland, Heywood, Port Fairy and Warrnambool all deserve to understand what the minister has planned."

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas was asked to abandon plans to amalgamate health services across the state.

Ms Thomas said given the challenges the state's health system had faced and given the impact the one-in-100-year pandemic had on the health system and the health and wellbeing of the community, it would be negligent not to inquire as to whether the way our system is organised is fit for now and into the future.

"So that work will continue," Ms Thomas said.

"Again, I will make it clear: this government will not close hospitals. It is not what we do.

"Those on the other side, the Liberal Party, when they were in government closed 10 regional hospitals."

She said the long-term challenges of the state's health system are things she takes very seriously.

"I am absolutely committed to the delivery of more and better care for the people of rural and regional Victoria as close to home as possible and as soon as possible," Ms Thomas said.

The Standard reported in February south-west Victoria's hospitals could merge into a single service.

Victoria's health leaders are providing the government with feedback on the optimal design and governance of its public health network.

They're looking at how services can better work together and use resources to deliver improved care more cheaply in the future.

A government spokesperson told The Standard some leaders had raised the idea of amalgamations but no decisions had been made. There were no plans to reduce the number of hospitals.

An Independent Expert Advisory Committee is leading the work and is made up of former and current health service executives and board members.

But the architect of Victoria's hospital funding system, Dr Stephen Duckett, told The Standard amalgamations were more than just an idea.

"That's not just a possibility, that's what they're looking to achieve," he said.

"It's unclear to me whether they're looking to broker marriages or whether they're looking to force amalgamations.

"I haven't seen anything in writing whatsoever but I think that might be because they're listening still - they've got to work out what's feasible, is it Warrnambool merging with Geelong or is it Warrnambool and Portland merging? They have different benefits and they achieve different things."

The health services plan comes as the state's health system is in crisis. Internal Department of Health figures, sighted by The Standard, showed the state's public hospitals were $1.46 billion in deficit in the six months to December 2023, with every single regional health service recording a shortfall, including South West Healthcare, which was $16.62 million in the red.