Will the Government provide funding to the Keith Hospital in Barker to prevent its expected closure; if so, what sum, and by when; if not, why not.

The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing has been supporting Keith and District Hospital through a variety of programs, including:

• National Rural and Remote Health Infrastructure Program. Keith and District Hospital received $501,500 in May 2009 to undertake the Hill Wing Refurbishment project. This project was completed in December 2010.
• Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP) which aims to improve access to medical specialist services for people living in regional, rural and remote Australia. MSOAP plans to support the delivery of a Psychiatry - Adult Service to Keith and District Hospital, with planned expenditure for this financial year of $16,000.
• Aged Care Program. For this financial year, Keith and District Hospital has to date received $415,141 in recurrent aged care funding. Of this amount, $42,478 is a viability supplement, designed to assist residential aged care services in rural and remote areas with the extra costs of delivering services in those areas. Since 2004-05, the total Commonwealth recurrent aged care funding for Keith and District Hospital is $4,243,919, of which, $350,143 is a viability supplement.

The Commonwealth also supports private hospitals, like Keith and District Hospital, through direct funding contributions from Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and indirectly through its support for private health insurance through the private health insurance rebate.