State Health Minister Daniel Andrews yesterday visited the hospital to announce a $209,000 funding boost to provide greater access to elective surgery and reduce waiting times for operations including orthopaedic, ophthalmology, gynaecology and general surgery.

Dane Huxley, hospital CEO, said the visit, despite being short, showed some promise for the future.

“He had a look around the hospital and now has an understanding of some of the difficulties we face,” Mr Huxley said.

“I think he’s prepared to look at a short-term fix to try to improve the infrastructure of the particularly stressed departments.

“I think we’d be looking at building stocks around maternity, A&E (accident and emergency) and post-op, which need more space to operate.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Thursday’s Sunraysia Daily 19/11/2009.