10th February, 2026.
My question is directed to the Minister for Health. I know that the Minister is aware of the growth of Wollondilly, and I appreciate his support for Bowral Hospital to date. However, my electorate is very large, and the growth around Wilton stretches to Appin and will see 30,000 new homes built over the next few decades. Will the Minister support my call for a new health hub to be established at Wilton?
Mr Ryan Park, Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health, and Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast: That is a very good question. As Minister, and as former shadow Minister, I have had opportunities to engage with the member for Wollondilly, who is a tireless advocate for a part of New South Wales that is seeing very strong growth. Recently, I met the Mayor of Wollondilly and looked at the figures. Between 2021 and 2041, about 50,000 additional people will move into that local government area. That is an enormous amount. It is not growth that we see in every local government area, including my area of Wollongong. But that growth is occurring on the fringes of Sydney, and we need to keep pace with it.
We are doing a number of things in relation to health services for the Wollondilly community, and we have more to do. We allocated about $15 million to plan a new hospital in the Aerotropolis area. Working with the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and others in that space, we are identifying the best location for that hospital. We are developing health hubs, which are essentially one-stop shops for health services that we think can be provided outside the hospital setting in an effort to reduce the number of people going to hospital. They include outpatient clinics, primary health care and subacute treatment so that people can get better clinically—particularly people who have to access health care at frequent intervals—without being forced into the busy hospital system.
Campbelltown Hospital is in the electorate of Wollondilly. The member—who knows better than anyone in this place who that hospital services—will be aware that Campbelltown is one of the busiest hospitals in the country. For the past three years, it was the busiest hospital in New South Wales. It sees about 90,000 emergency department presentations a year, and that number is growing. For communities like Wilton, it means high service demand for people who are forced to go to Campbelltown hospital to access care. I report to the member for Wollondilly and the House that I have asked NSW Health and the South Western Sydney Local Health District to work on investing in integrated health hubs going forward. [Extension of time]
We are not yet able to announce and commit to that investment because the work is still under done. But I assure the member for Wollondilly and her community that we have heard loud and clear the message about the demand for services in south-western Sydney. I have looked carefully at the integrated health model. I have asked former Ministers of all political persuasions about their efficacy, the way they work and the advantages to growing communities. Generally, health hubs are considered for communities where the population growth is not significant enough to warrant a full-scale hospital. They can take pressure off existing facilities. That is what we are looking to do in the south-west.
We have work to do. We are considering a range of sites, including Wilton. I assure the member for Wollondilly that we are working through this process carefully. I will personally make sure that she is updated about this work. Alongside the mayor and others in her community, and through her leadership and advocacy, the member for Wollondilly has been calling for this for some time. The former Government faced this challenge, and now we are facing it. I have asked for significant examination of integrated health hubs, which I think can work in certain outer suburbs, particularly in large growth areas like south-western Sydney. I remain committed to making sure that the member for Wollondilly—and, through her, her community—is kept informed about the progress we are making and the importance of delivering better health services to her community.