Ten councils have turned up to a health forum to get a better understanding of Wodonga's push for a new Border hospital.
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Representatives from Alpine, Berrigan, Edward River, Federation, Greater Hume, Indigo, Murrumbidgee, Mansfield, Lockhart and Towong councils joined Wodonga at a meeting at the Border city's council offices on Wednesday, August 16, to draw up a draft report to be sent to all involved in the hospital process.
Apologies were Albury, Wangaratta, Benalla, Moira, Snowy Valleys and Murray River councils.
The Victorian and NSW governments committed $558 million to an upgrade of Albury hospital in 2022, but Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren believes this response from councils near and far would force the key players to listen to its case for a greenfield alternative.
"Eleven mayors that represent a portion of 300,000 people is a pretty influential organisation," he said.
"We had councillors attending from Murrumbidgee, which is quite a distance, and we had others come in virtually. It was well attended and strong in the way it was put together.
"There's a reasonable consensus that we will put together a document to submit to all of our councils. Once it's adopted, or adopted with some revision, we'll get resolutions of every council and come back together when that's all done."
Cr Mildren said the group of councils aimed to put another forum together to address representatives from both state governments, preferably health ministers, as well as Health Infrastructure NSW, which is responsible for construction works at Albury hospital.
"We want all of those players, including Commonwealth government players, if we can get them to get into one room and have a serious conversation and see if we can't direct how this process works to get the best health outcomes," he said.
"Fundamentally, the whole thing is about getting the best health outcome and that was agreed by everybody in the room today.
"We're trying to generate an understanding and put all the views into the equation, so that what we get at the end of this is the health services at a standard and capacity that we deserve. We don't think that's happening with the current project the way it is being undertaken."
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Cr Mildren said Wodonga and Albury councils had regular conversations on an array of matters, including the future of the Border's health service.
"There's nothing that's not on the table and nothing that we don't talk openly and frankly about," he said.
"The only thing that is probably not the agreed point, and it doesn't say we disagree, it just says we don't have the same lined up view as Albury does. Albury supports the existing site and we say this all needs to be looked at," he said.
"We need to find a site on the merits of the circumstances, not a site based on other criteria that are not part of the health services process.
"In effect, what we're seeking to achieve is health service outcomes that deliver a service one level down from metropolitan Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. We see us as being the principal region that takes that next level.
"There's a whole series of other hospitals that might be within or just outside our region that will contribute and be part of the process, but are a next level down in terms of hospital or in some cases, another level down below that.
"You've got the smaller health services like some of the outposts at Corryong and Beechworth and other places. They're all part of the big fabric and part of the health service outcome, but they are all going to be reliant in some form or other on what the step up services are that get provided out of Albury-Wodonga."
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