Expressions of interest will be sought from private hospitals and aged care providers to build on the site of the Daw Park Repatriation Hospital in Adelaide.
The South Australian Government announced earlier in the year that the war veterans’ hospital would be closed and its services shifted to Adelaide’s major hospitals as part of a health system shake-up over the next two years.
Veterans Affairs and acting Health Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith said the Government wanted the Daw Park site retained as a health and aged care precinct.
“The Government is categorically ruling out this site for any sort of commercial development,” he said.
“You will not be seeing a Costco or a Bunnings or a Woolworths at this site. You will not be seeing commercial, residential developments at this site, that was never our intention.”
The Opposition said Mr Hamilton-Smith was ensuring the repatriation site would be carved up like a roast and said the Government was being arrogant and ignoring the community.
Since early this month, a group of war veterans has been camped on the steps of Parliament House demanding the Daw Park hospital be retained and services, including emergency admission referrals, be restored.
They gave the Government a list of conditions under which they were prepared to end their protest, which included upgrading current facilities which they said had been allowed to fall into disrepair.