Jeremy Cordeaux on why the RAH must be retained

One cannot underestimate ‘the connect’ between this hospital, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and the community here in South Australia.

No one can sweep away the tradition of this place in the name of progress. Every city and every country has its great hospitals built on the excellence of learning and medical practice.

This hospital is a world famous powerhouse of innovation, education, research and service to the people.

In Adelaide we can be immensely proud of this great public hospital with a reputation that goes back way before Lord Florey and an enormous list of other eminent scientists – men and women who have brought great prestige to our city and our country.

The argument is “should we preserve this great hospital?” or “should we chuck it in favour of a new glitzy model down the road?” If in doubt, I say to you don’t. But, if you really want to know upon which side of this argument you should be, I would refer you to the professors, surgeons, doctors, nurses and countless volunteers who make this great institution work for us all.

I referred earlier to other great hospitals around the world; it is important to note that some of them are hundreds of years old and rejoice in their age and history.

Can you imagine people tearing down St. Mary’s Hospital in London, The Great Ormand Street Hospital, the Royal Hospital, St. Bartholomew, and the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States or the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney?

The truth is we should be continually upgrading our medical facilities. If we do this we do not have to “run off and try to reinvent the wheel”.

I say that the Royal Adelaide Hospital does need upgrading, but our State Government must understand that our expectation, indeed our demand, is that they must do the best possible job, as economically as possible, on behalf of the tax payer.

This is not a Taj RAH and nor do we want it to be. Equally, we don’t want some wild extravagant adventure that we are being told will cost $1.7 billion dollars which will eventually cost us hundreds of millions of dollars more – all costs blow out and construction always falls behind schedule.

I could refer you to Collins Class Submarines, airports, the REM centre, you name it: Where public money is involved it seems like an open invitation for every developer or construction company to “rip us off”.

Do not throw this baby out with the bath water.

I do not believe we need a new squillion dollar hospital - I do not believe we need a squillion dollar stadium either.

With regard to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, as my grandmother used to say to me as a child, “speak well of the bridge that carries you over”.

My final word on this is “Hooray for the RAH, let’s keep her going”.