NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner committed to relocate Kiama ambulance station and upgrade parking at Shoalhaven Hospital during a visit to the region on Tuesday.
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Ms Skinner said a re-elected Baird government would invest about $5 million to relocate and upgrade the ageing ambulance station in Terralong Street.
"That ambulance station has been great in its day but it's past its use-by date," Ms Skinner said.
"It's in the wrong spot, right in the centre of town, and getting ambulances in and out can sometimes be extremely difficult.
"There needs to be an upgraded ambulance station on a new site and we've allocated this money in the next term of government to do a scoping study to determine a possible site and the scale of it."
Ms Skinner said she had been strongly lobbied by Kiama MP Gareth Ward for the funding, which would form part of a program of upgrading rural and regional ambulance stations across the state including one at Berry.
Mr Ward said: "For 20 years the people of Kiama have wanted to see a new station as paramedics find it hard to get out of the CBD, particularly in heavy traffic.
"It's important to relocate it to a more suitable site to improve response times and provide better access to residents in Kiama, Kiama Downs, Jamberoo and Minnamurra."
Ms Skinner also announced a funding boost of up to $8 million for a new 220-space car park to assist patients, staff and visitors to Shoalhaven Hospital.
Planning and work on the project would begin in the next term of the Baird government if it was re-elected on March 28.
"This hospital has grown in the number of patients that it's seeing and there has been a clamour for extra parking for some time," Ms Skinner said.
"This government previously provided an additional 127 spaces but now we need more.
At present patients, visitors and staff had to park in surrounding streets and, especially for staff working late, this is not satisfactory, she said.
Mr Ward and South Coast MP Shelley Hancock welcomed the announcement of the multi-storey development. "Visiting hospital can be a joyous or challenging time and today's announcement will go a long way to alleviating pressure for patients attending Shoalhaven Hospital," Ms Hancock said.
lwachsmuth@fairfaxmedia.com.au
