Rather than duplicate services on both sides of the Border, health professionals successfully fought for the creation of a sole entity to service the vast population in and around the Albury-Wodonga region.

The service would largely be run out of Albury but fall under the jurisdiction of the Victorian government.

That’s all good in theory, but it would appear Spring Street hasn’t upheld its end of the bargain with the allocation of money.

In 2018, we’ve seen more than $450 million committed to Ballarat Base Hospital and another $60 million promised to Bendigo Health should Labor prevail in next weekend’s election. More than $30 million has been set aside by Daniel Andrews for the hospital in his hometown, Wangaratta, to refurbish the maternity unit and expand the emergency department.

There’s no prizes for guessing how much has been promised to Albury Wodonga Health. We’ve said it before in these pages but, yes, you guessed it – zip, zero, zilch.

More than 40 of the Border’s leading specialists, doctors and surgeons have penned an open letter to The Border Mail, highlighting the dire situation.

“We are not even guaranteed to keep the doors of the cancer centre open if the number of patients continues to grow as expected this financial year. We are short of beds and theatres. Recently the Victorian government declined to match funding from NSW to expand the emergency department, effectively reneging on the signed agreement between the two states,” they wrote.

It’s simply not good enough that because Albury hospital is based in NSW the Victorian government chooses to ignore it when it comes to spending on infrastructure.

On Thursday, Mr Andrews said: “I grew up in regional Victoria, and I know how important good healthcare is to local families when someone gets sick. We’re upgrading regional and rural hospitals around the state,so the best treatment is just around the corner.”

We’d like to remind him that North East Victoria doesn’t finish at the Ovens River.