OP4P at the table with the Premier & Health Minister

Front page story by journalist Riley Krause in Saturday’s CWD 18th May 2024

KEY members of the Orange community met with NSW Government ministers on Friday morning to discuss the main issues impacting our city.

Push for Palliative’s Janice Harris managed to sit down with both NSW Premier Chris Minns and the Minister for Health Ryan Park to discuss an issue the group has long campaigned for; a dedicated hospice to improve end of life care.

She said both parties were “very interested” in what she had to say and Push for Palliative’s strategic plan for the hospice.

“We spoke about any potential land that might be available on the Bloomfield site and they were very responsive to our concerns and our requests,” Ms Harris said. “We explained that we very much saw it as a public-private partnership with other private stakeholders as well as the government. “They’ll be making some connections for us so we can continue those negotiations for a hospice.”

More palliative care beds were confirmed for Orange Health Service in November 2023, but there has yet to be any guarantees from the government about whether the city would one day see a hospice. That same month, the CWD revealed how potential funding for end of life care across the Western NSW Local Health District had been slashed.

Ms Harris noted how both Mr Minns and Mr Park seemed knowledgeable about the palliative subject and thanked Member for Orange Phil Donato for organising their meeting.

“What really impressed me is they knew exactly what we were talking about,” the palliative care campaigner said of Mr Park and Mr Minns.