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Further wait for hospital

Stakeholders are frustrated at stalled development works at Laverton Hospital, despite being flagged as a "priority" project by Health Minister Kim Hames in 2012.

A business plan for the project has been in development since 2011, but this appears to have been delayed because of funding uncertainties.

The _Kalgoorlie Miner _can reveal the WA Country Health Service has now turned to the $96 million Goldfields-Esperance Revitalisation Fund in its search for backing.

It is unclear what portion of the estimated $30 million upgrade the health service will seek from the fund.

As a result, WACHS will compete with other projects in the region, including the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's planned $25 million upgrade of the Kalgoorlie Golf Course.

The WACHS decision was sparked in part by Kalgoorlie MLA Wendy Duncan.

Ms Duncan encouraged WACHS Goldfields regional director Geraldine Ennis to make a submission to the revitalisation fund before applications closed last Thursday.

This recommendation appears at odds with earlier statements made by Ms Duncan about the uses of the Royalties for Regions-backed fund.

In February, Ms Duncan called for a separate Goldfields health fund similar to the Southern Inland Health Initiative.

The revitalisation fund could be quarantined from health projects such as the hospital upgrade.

"To take health initiatives out of (the revitalisation fund) would really put a hole in it," she said.

The appeal to Royalties for Regions is the latest in an ongoing funding search for the health service, which said in November it was "exploring options" to progress the hospital upgrade.

Ms Duncan said uncertainty was holding the project back.

"WACHS won't go to the detailed business case phase unless they know the funding is pretty assured, because it's an expensive process once you go to the surveyors and all that sort of thing," she said.

"So they are ready and waiting to develop a business case if they get the nod."

The protracted funding search has some stakeholders in Laverton convinced upgrades for the "dilapidated" hospital have stalled.

A business case has been described as the next stage for the upgrade since a scoping study was completed in July 2011.

Dr Hames reaffirmed this during a visit to Laverton in November 2012, when he also confirmed the project's estimated cost of $30 million.

Ms Ennis said the full cost of the redevelopment would not be known until the business case had been completed.

However, Ms Ennis said development of the plan was under way.

"This will lead to the development of a concept brief which will include a site master plan," she said.

"This is a very complex process and will take into consideration community needs and show how the upgrading of the site will be carried out."

This appeal to complexity was echoed by Dr Hames, who called the business case a "key step".

"Health infrastructure projects such as this are complex and must be carefully planned in order to deliver the most suitable facility for the community," he said.

Dr Hames declined to comment on whether he supported Ms Duncan's endorsement of the revitalisation fund.

He failed to answer whether Laverton Hospital would be allocated funding in the upcoming State Budget.