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Local Politics: Monthly Chronicle

Matt Kean MP for Hornsby with the nurses at Hornsby Hospital on International Nurses Day

In the first of his columns for the Monthly Chronicle, Hornsby MP Matt Kean champions the nurses at Hornsby Hospital.

Every day in hospitals around the country nurses work around the clock to ensure patients receive the best of care. Their dedication and commitment to people when they need it most is invaluable in our community. May 12th is International Nurses Day, the birthday of famous nurse Florence Nightingale. I was honoured to celebrate this day with the hard working nurses at Hornsby Hospital.

The nurses at Hornsby are a dedicated bunch who work together to provide 24/7 care to patients no matter who they are or where they come from. While the rest of us are at home enjoying the evening or relaxing on a weekend, a nurse may be in the middle of an 8-10 hour shift.

Each shift a nurse will be giving care for up to four patients at a time, not only providing medical care but building personal relationships to support people through some of their toughest times. They’re the heart and soul of our public health system often going above and beyond the call of duty.

I spoke with nurse Cindy Ko who told me “As a nurse, I feel rewarded each day. I love being part of a team which is always supportive, where we can have a laugh through a busy shift. At the same time we’re passionate about delivering outstanding patient-centred care”. Thanks Cindy and all the hard working nurses in our community for everything they do for patients in their care.

There have been a lot of changes at Hornsby Hospital since I was elected. It was my number one commitment to improve the facilities so our community would have a hospital that would better serve us now and into the future. The $121 million STAR building was completed in 2015. This has already improved the facilities for patients and hospital staff.

I was also able to secure another $200 million in funding and recently announced the designs for stage-two of the redevelopment. The new multi-storey Clinical Services Building will be a one-stop shop for vital medical services. Intensive care and high dependency units, coronary care and cardiac intensive care and inpatient units – just to name a few. It will also include an expanded emergency department and a multi-storey carpark.  Hornsby Hospital staff were consulted in the plans for this new re-development to ensure it is able to serve patients and staff. Once completed this will make Hornsby Hospital state-of-the-art and one of the best hospitals in the State.

I also wanted to give an update on the NorthConnex tunnel. The project is going full steam ahead and 6km has already been dug. The final roadheader was recently delivered to the NorthConnex project and it has been called Dahlia. Named after the Tunnel Manager Ian Webb’s daughter this makes 19 roadheaders working on the $3 billion project. It is a tradition that the last roadheader is named after the tunnel manager’s wife or daughter. While other roadheaders Petra and Meehan Demon have been named by Thornleigh West Public School and Pennant Hills Public School.

The NorthConnex tunnel will connect the Hills M2 Motorway at Pennant Hills with the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga. Once completed it will save motorists 15 minutes of travel time and 21 sets of traffic lights. For those who travel on Pennant Hills Road every day, you will know how much we need this piece of infrastructure.