Carroll pledges $750 million a year for 250 new hospital beds
Ben Carroll pledged $1.5 billion to add 250 emergency beds and 1,500 health workers across 12 Victorian hospitals.
Ben Carroll launched his re-election campaign with a pledge to spend $1.5 billion over four years on hospital emergency care. The funding will create 250 additional beds and hire 1,500 extra health workers across 12 hospitals.
Of these workers, 750 are nurses. The 12 hospitals include the Alfred, Austin, Royal Children's, and University Hospital Geelong.
Carroll says the expansion would increase emergency capacity by an average of 25 per cent. This would allow hospitals to treat an extra 210,000 patients yearly.
It would cut wait times by 20 per cent. Emergency departments are overwhelmed.
More than half of all patients now wait more than four hours for treatment. Labor trails in opinion polls ahead of the 28 November election.
The opposition Coalition is promising transit waiting areas and regional incentives for health workers. It also promises $1.27 billion to send public patients to private hospitals.
- $1.5 billion
- Four-year investment
- 250 beds, 1,500 health workers
- New beds and workers
- 28 November
- Election date
Why it mattersHospital emergency departments are at breaking point. Both major parties are staking their election on health promises.
AustraliaVictorian hospital patients face extended waits; this is a centrepiece of Labor's re-election pitch and signals where major parties see health spending priorities.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
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