Waiting over as Victorian Health Minister meets Wodonga mayor

Mary-Anne Thomas finally met with the city's mayor Ron Mildren and chief executive Matthew Hyde late on Tuesday August 29.

The online hook-up followed requests dating back to last December.

Wodonga Council is opposed to the $558 million expansion of Albury hospital announced last October by then NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and his Victorian counterpart Daniel Andrews.

Since then the council has argued for the construction of an entirely new Border hospital on a fresh site and sought support from surrounding local government administrations.

But on Wednesday, a Victorian government spokesman said Ms Thomas emphatically told Cr Mildren and Mr Hyde there would be no deviation to the existing hospital plan.

"The minister made it clear to the council that both the Victorian and NSW governments were committed to delivering the $558 million redevelopment of the Albury base hospital and that the council were wasting their time by advocating for an alternative plan that had neither governments' support," he said.

Cr Mildren was coy about what the meeting meant for the council campaign.

"We're still trying to sit down and work out what we got from it," Cr Mildren said.

"There's so much information that has come out of it."

Cr Mildren said he and Mr Hyde would now compare notes and put a further plan together.

He hopes to speak in more detail by the end of the week.

The meeting, which ran for 20 to 25 minutes, followed Mr Andrews blasting Wodonga Council's hospital fight when he visited Rutherglen last Friday August 25.

Cr Mildren said Ms Thomas' office subsequently alerted the council about 11am on Monday August 28 that she was willing to meet them as soon as possible.

The mayor does not believe Mr Andrews' visit influenced the timing of the meeting, while the government representative said the minister's meeting was "following a request by the council".

Meanwhile, Federation mayor Pat Bourke reflected at his council meeting on Tuesday August 29 about the regional gathering of shires by Wodonga to discuss the hospital plan.

"In no way did we go in and decide on the site, whether it was a greenfields site or the existing site," Cr Bourke said.

"I note that there was a strong message that came out from the Victorian Premier....within days that he was definite the job's done, it will be the existing site."

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