An article published by the ABC this morning revealed that the Perth Midland Hospital, awarded to St. John of God group and due to be complete in 2015, will not offer services which are in conflict of ethical interests with the Catholic values of the organisation.
This would be completely reasonable had this development been a fully privately funded investment; but it isn't.
The WA State Government and Federal Government are investing a combined $360 million into the construction of this new hospital, with private contribution totalling to $70 million. This means the major shareholders of this project are the people, represented by the State Government.
So the real question is, is the expectation of the standard range of services offered at a standard public hospital a reasonable one? should the voices of the local population be heard in this case? should the government have considered its role as a provider of services before its role as a consultancy?
My answer would be yes, to all of the above.
