QLD DEPUTY PREMIER PAYS TRIBUTE TO CATHOLIC SECTOR ON EVE OF CONFERENCE

Catholic Health Australia’s first national conference in three years kicked off on Monday night with a speech given by the Deputy Premier Hon Steven Miles MP who said he valued the contribution the Catholic sector makes every day to Queenslanders’ health and aged care.
CHA Chair Hon John Watkins AM introduced Mr Miles at a welcome drinks party for 200 delegates at the Brisbane Hilton where the two days of conference will be held.
Reflecting on his time as Health Minister as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold Mr Miles thanked the room and spoke of the strong relationship that the Catholic sector has with the Queensland government.
“I knew from my first couple of years as health minister what a very strong relationship we have with our Catholic hospitals in particular…..We always found our Catholic hospitals to be wonderful partners in health care and certainly were important advisors to me in my role.
“When COVID hit we saw that in every possible scenario we modelled we were going to be strong partners with the private sector, and we always started with the Catholic providers as we knew we could count on you most.”
He said evidence of that continuing relationship could be found in the development with Mater of a new public hospital in Springfield.
Mr Miles said that he would like to see “ways we can work better to serve our joint communities” whilst acknowledging that his government had to deal with CHA over some “really tough issues” – a reference to assisted suicide and euthanasia legislation passed last year – but that the engagement with CHA and the sector was “always honest and forthright.”
He also paid tribute to the sector for the care that it gives hundreds of thousands of elderly Queenslanders each year, including his own grandmother who died at the age of 94 this year and was cared for at a St Vincent’s facility. “She was taken wonderful care of, particularly towards the end,” he said.
CHA CEO Pat Garcia thanked Mr Miles. “It was an honour to have the Deputy Premier open our conference. It is a testament to the good relationship that we have with his government that he came to honour our sector and the people who work in it. We will continue to work closely with the Queensland State Government continuing a relationship that stretches back to the last century,” he said.