A community campaign against cuts to medical centres in the inner-city suburbs of Naarm/Melbourne has grown so quickly that Yarra City Mayor Steve Jolly thinks it may be able to force Victorian Labor and Cohealth to reverse the cuts.
Jolly told 3CR's Green Left program on November 7 that residents are even talking about how, if that doesn’t happen, they may have to set up their own services to look after sick children over the Christmas break.
“Cohealth announced a couple of weeks ago that they were going to close all bulk billing GPs, pharmaceutical and counselling services at the community health centres in Kensington, Fitzroy and Collingwood on December 19, and that they will close the Collingwood site entirely.
“That means that about 12,500 of the poorest people in the inner city — sick kids, sick elderly and sick people in general — won’t have access to doctors because there are no other doctors, pretty much, in the inner city that bulk bill. Those that do aren’t taking any more new patients.”
The shock announcement led to people ringing Jolly saying they will not accept the cuts and have to fight back to stop it
The City of Yarra called a meeting at the Fitzroy Town Hall that was so packed it had to go to the ballroom and, even then, people couldn’t squeeze in. “We’ve had thousands of people sign a petition; hundreds and hundreds of people turning up to the public meeting,” Jolly said.
“The following day in Kensington, people showed up to a street meeting called by Jo Briskey, federal MP for Maribyrnong. Jolly said those with the power to stop this — state and federal Labor — haven’t stepped in.
“We’ve heard a lot of hand wringing about the bad decision by Cohealth management, but they have done nothing to intervene. They have the power to sack the board, put in an administrator and reverse these cuts.”
Jolly said health minister Mary-Anne Thomas has said she’s a “great friend” of Cohealth CEO Nicole Bartholomeusz, and the campaign has protested outside her office.
“We’re going to keep putting the blowtorch to the backside of state and federal Labor, politically and on the street, until they intervene and stop these cuts. Words aren’t enough; we need action.”
Jolly said both government and the Cohealth board are to blame for this crisis. Cohealth has the funds to expand to Flinders Street and into Tasmania while, at the same time, cutting basic services.
Socialist Alliance Merri-bek councillor Sue Bolton told Green Left that while state and federal governments have systematically underfunded community health centres. The merging of North Yarra Community Health, Western Region Health and Doutta Galla to form Cohealth disrupted their connection to the community.
“Community health used to be very locally focused; medical practitioners had a deep knowledge of the local community," said Bolton. "Prior to the merger, North Yarra Community Health was run by a board, elected by the community. It held bi-monthly large community meetings where the proceedings were translated into 10 languages. After the amalgamation, community membership was abolished and the board members were appointed.”
"Both federal and state governments are pushing not-for-profits in this direction; services become less accountable to the communities that they serve.”
Cohealth serves many vulnerable communities and people with very complex needs, including homeless people.
“GP appointments for people with complex needs don’t fit into Medicare’s six-minute appointments,” Bolton said.
Jolly said federal and state Labor have a choice; they can step in with funding to stop the closure or let the service close and end access to preventive health for whole communities.
“Cohealth did the horrible deed, but the Labor party has not stepped in and stopped them. That’s the problem we have right now.”
Jolly is hopeful that the cuts will be reversed, but if not, he said there are plans to “run a non-official but equally high standard operation.
“If we fail at getting Labor to intervene, we’re not going to give up,” Jolly said. "We’ll have an occupation to run a health clinic using brave GPs, nurses and other health professionals, plus supporters, to try and keep services alive for sick kids and others. We’re going to ask for union support, community support, 3CR and everybody else.”
[Sign the petition against Cohealth closures in Kensington, Fitzroy and Collingwood here.]