Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Ardrossan Community Hospital has temporarily shut its accident and emergency service and acute care in response to ongoing financial losses and workforce challenges.

ACH Board chairperson Margaret Tomsen said the services were closed as of 9am yesterday (Monday, November 13).

“It is hoped this will be a temporary situation while future longer-term arrangements are worked through,” she said.

“Planning is in progress regarding a possible future partnership with the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network to ensure health services are maintained in Ardrossan.

“As a business, ACH continues to operate at an unsustainable financial loss.”

A YNLHN spokesperson said the hospital was a privately run entity and its board was responsible for all decisions made.

“Since 2018, the South Australian Government has provided $180,000 per year to support the ACH and this contribution has continued through the 2023-24 financial year,” the spokesperson said.

“ACH has continued to report a decline in patient activity in recent years, reporting only 79 admissions during 2022-23.

“Discussions have been ongoing between SA Health and the ACH Board for an extended period and we will keep the community informed as more information becomes available.”

The board announced in May it was waiting on a state government review into its acute services, which was likely to propose a public/private model for ACH.

In addition to A&E and its 22 hospital beds, the hospital operates a 31-bed residential aged care facility as well as a centre for visiting specialists and allied health services.

Mrs Tomsen said the board strongly advocated for the community to retain hospital buildings, retention of all staff, and for YNLHN to manage aged care and allied health services and provide some form of emergency service, either with doctor presence or as triage.

Mrs Tomsen said external factors have put the hospital has been under continuous pressure for the past five years.

Increased costs include governance and compliance, employment of agency staff to fill staff shortages, and on-call retainer payments for doctors.

The hospital’s income has been impacted by a decrease in the number of people with private health insurance and workforce shortages.

Ardrossan Community Hospital Board chairperson Margaret Tomsen said there has been a trend for the local community to seek emergency care in Maitland and Wallaroo when there was no on-call doctor available at Ardrossan.

“These factors have caused fewer people to use ACH resulting in changes to the usual services, notably restricted access to A&E and acute services at times,” she said.

Mrs Tomsen said residential aged care is cost-effective at full occupancy but the federal government’s emphasis on funding at-home care services had affected the number of people living in the facility.

Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis said he was shattered by the decision to shut services at ACH and called on the state government to take over, as it has done for the Keith and District Hospital.

He said the flow-on effects of the shutdown will be diabolical for other health providers on Yorke Peninsula, particularly ambulance volunteers.

“I’ve no idea why the government would go to the effort of sending a consultant to Ardrossan to provide recommendations if they had no intention to act upon them,” he said.

“The government needs to release the report, let us know what it intends to act upon and why, as soon as possible.”

Yorke Peninsula Council mayor Darren Braund said ACH is the region’s only fully private community-owned hospital and it has provided outstanding service for more than 100 years.

“Any reduction in health services for our community is a concern,” he said.

“Essential services such as health are critical for our residents, and for our towns to thrive into the future.”

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 14 November 2023.