The South Australian government has committed to meeting the costs of treatment for a planned renal dialysis centre in the remote APY lands; a year after $1.7mn in federal funding was pledged.
The Federal Government committed $9mn to Western Desert Dialysis last year for the establishment of clinics in central Australia, $1.7mn of which was for the remote community Ernabella.
Western Desert Dialysis at the time said it would need the South Australian government to meet the costs of delivering the treatment.
SA Health Minister Jack Snelling said the year-long delay was due to the proposal coming “out of the blue.”
Western Desert Dialysis chief executive Sarah Brown says she is “ecstatic” but wishes the funding had come sooner – as one year of federal funding has been wasted.
When NIRS spoke to Ms Brown earlier in the year she said WDD was ready to fundraise to provide the service.
The main concern, Ms Brown had said, was forcing patients to travel hundreds of kilometres to Port Augusta or Adelaide to receive treatment.
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