ALBURY-Wodonga Health has opened a fourth operating theatre at Albury hospital, seeking to making inroads into a growing elective surgery waiting list.
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The theatre has remained dormant since the Borella Road campus was first opened but the health service says increased demand and a growing population means it now needs to be used.
There are about 2700 patients on the surgical waiting list and the additional theatre will allow another 250 surgeries to be performed in the next six months.
The health service has sought $3 million in Victorian government funding to open the theatre and chairman Lou Lieberman believes there is sufficient demand and growth to ensure the theatre remains open indefinitely.
Albury-Wodonga has a similar population to other Victorian regional centres including Bendigo and Ballarat but in both cases their elective surgical waiting lists are much smaller.
It’s good to see the theatre open and it’s also good to see the Victorian government grant funding to open the theatre in the first round of its program.
That will ensure patients not having to wait as long for surgeries including orthopedic and ear, nose and throat operations.
