![Michelle Cowan (second from right) joins former Albury mayor Kevin Mack in highlighting Border hospital woes in 2022. She will now be meeting with Mr Mack's successors to discuss health plans for the region. Michelle Cowan (second from right) joins former Albury mayor Kevin Mack in highlighting Border hospital woes in 2022. She will now be meeting with Mr Mack's successors to discuss health plans for the region.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/da27ae7d-d4b3-4b32-8681-dd522050152a.jpg/r0_0_6720_4435_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Better Border Health will meet on Monday, June 3, with Albury Council for only the second time after having had at least 10 sessions with their Wodonga counterparts.
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The gathering follows the contrasting lobbying styles of Albury and Wodonga councillors for a new hospital being in the spotlight.
Albury deputy mayor Steve Bowen said his city was "advocating not to the media, we are advocating to the right people, the people who make the decisions".
In comparison, Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren and his councillor colleagues have publicly argued for a new hospital and sought to put pressure on ministers in open forums.
Better Border Health representative Michelle Cowan queried Albury Council's approach.
"I accept that all sorts of things go on behind closed doors but I think it's important Albury residents recognise their councillors are fighting as hard as they can for the best outcome," Ms Cowan said.
"We don't think we've got that sense here and when you compare how many times the hospital has been on the agenda of council meetings in Wodonga compared to Albury, there's a disparity there that's hard to understand, but I think that's changing."
When asked if there were any plans to have an open discussion in council following Wodonga and Federation councils discussing the matter in recent weeks, Albury mayor Kylie King pointed to what occurred nearly three months ago.
"On the 11th March our councillor group considered a mayoral minute in an Albury City Council meeting in relation to the hospital issue following the Wodonga health summit which included a motion that was endorsed by council," Cr King said.
The Federation meeting saw the public tabling of a brochure, backed by the Twin City councils, which is headed "A single-site hospital for Albury Wodonga - Build a hospital for tomorrow, today".
Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren said it was not an advocacy document but a list of things the councils agreed upon excluding where a new hospital should be built.
"It gives us something to open doors federally," Cr Mildren said.
"If you are totally at odds with each other then clearly the federal government are not going to be amenable to having a conversation with you."
Cr King said the two-page outline was to assist in lobbying governments.
"It ensures a united front in advocating for improvements to our health services, including a single site hospital, as agreed at the Wodonga health summit, as well as exploring a tripartite agreement with both state and federal governments due to our unique position of being the only cross-border health service in Australia, driving health outcomes for 300,000 people," Cr King said.
She said the meeting with Border Border Health and the Border Medical Association was in response to an invitation from those groups.
Ms Cowan said she welcomed the opportunity which comes after car parking woes in recent times have highlighted problems with Albury hospital, which is earmarked for an upgrade that Better Border Health opposes.
She criticised Cr Bowen for stating "we don't decide where the hospital goes, the state government does that".
"That's not a factual comment," Ms Cowan said.
"Local government has been given an opportunity to be involved in that discussion and if you look at the 2021 (hospital) master plan, Albury Council didn't offer much at all."