Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison has fresh hope for new Maitland Hospital after Health Minister Brad Hazzard's visit

Brad Hazzard said on Friday he was not locked into the idea of a public-private partnership.

He also said the current proposal for the Metford Road Hospital would not cater for Maitland’s growing population.

Ms Aitchison said it was “refreshing and comforting” that the government wasn’t 100 per cent in favour of the public-private model, but that “time will tell” in terms of what the final plan was.

She was also pleased that Mr Hazzard had come up to visit the hospital after just six weeks in the health portfolio.

But the Maitland member said she was concerned over the minister’s comments about the timeline of work.

Mr Hazzard said no matter what model was chosen, the new hospital would not be ready for at least another five years.

“That extends out the time from their promise [to build a new hospital] to about 11 years, which is not acceptable, particularly because they haven’t been investing in infrastructure in the existing hospital, and he said they wouldn’t be,” she said.

“We’ve got a population that’s growing by five people per day, and over 11 years that’s an extraordinary number of people without additional funding into the hospital.”

“I’m not happy about that, but that said, he showed some faith in actually turning up and inviting the local member.”

Ms Aitchison said she wanted to work with the government to ensure the best possible option for the community.

“[The minister is] open to having the conversation, but we need to make sure that dialogue continues,” she said. “Time for politics on this has gone.”

“We also need him to tell us what he’s planning and allow adequate time for the community to consider the ramifications.”

“I look forward to working with him to get that hospital built as properly as possible.”