REGIONAL health services battling financial constraints are grappling with challenges to meet demand and deliver services.
Seymour Health, which had a deficit of $1.34 million for the year ended June 30, 2025, is again looking at a bleak picture, with another deficit on the cards.
Chief Executive Officer Ward Steet said the reality is that the healthcare budget across Victoria is tight.
He said most small rural health services had fiscal management improvement plans in place to create saving initiatives, and Seymour Health is no different to any of those small rural health services.
“We have put in place savings initiatives to try and come in as best we can towards a balanced budget. We are currently in a deficit position and are forecasting a deficit.”
Asked how much the expected deficit would be, Mr Steet said: “I am not at liberty to speculate on what that figure may be and as you would understand there are many factors at play currently that would make such a forecast quite unreliable, not least of all the current cost escalations as a result of the Middle East conflict.”
Mr Steet said though the service faces funding challenges, there is no bed shortages.
“We have not cut any service. If anything, we have expanded services … There is no waiting lists for admissions to the hospital, and our outpatient services and urgent care waiting periods remain similar to what they have always been. We are responsive to the community need.
“We have had funding growth. Each year we have moved forward.”
Asked whether the finding from the Department of Health has kept up with the times to meet the challenges after population rise, he would not directly answer that, but added certainly, it’s challenging.
“We are meeting community demand within our allocated funding resources, but we are currently experiencing a deficit position. We have sufficient remaining reserves to cover the deficit position. So there is no risk to our services or that we need to cut any services. In fact, we have expanded services. So, we are meeting those challenges head on.”
In recent months, there were reports the Department of Health had instructed Seymour Health to draw from unallocated funds, including money set aside for staff leave entitlements in a bid to reduce its operating deficit.
Seymour Health recently added 10 residential aged care beds at Barrabill House.
Northern Health, which reported a deficit of $74 million operating deficit for the 2023-24 financial year, did not respond to repeated inquiries about its current financial position.