This time 10 years ago, the Border's newest arrival was one day old: Albury Wodonga Health.
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The Border Mail had a striking front page to mark the occasion, in the form of a birth notice, which read: "Twenty years after conception, and following a complicated pregnancy and a difficult delivery, the Border is thrilled to announce the overdue arrival of Albury Wodonga Health ... The cross-border health service is a first for Australia. It will have a budget of $130 million and more than 1000 staff, with the aim of improving health services for the region."
A decade on, we have much to be proud of in how the health service has grown to serve a catchment of about 250,000 people on both sides of the Murray River.
In 10 years, Albury Wodonga Health's number of staff has doubled to about 2500 people and there are almost 80 more beds to go with nearly 3000 additional emergency presentations.
We've seen the addition of the cancer centre and cardiac cath lab at Albury while plans are underway for a new emergency department and intensive care unit.
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In the not-too-distant future, maternity services will move from Wodonga to Albury due to the need for intensive care to be delivered on-site.
Has it all been smooth sailing? Of course not, but what is these days?
Staff surveys have revealed cases of bullying, and improving the culture of the organisation was something outgoing chief executive Leigh McJames put at near the top of his priority list.
Getting adequate funding from state governments has also proved a point of contention among sections of the health fraternity, with Victoria managing the service but jointly funding operations with NSW.
Border anomalies will continue to exist for as long as the states are divided by the Murray River but as Albury Wodonga Health board member Tim Farrah says, "for 10 years, we have had a much better health service than we ever had having two small health services operating separately on each side of the border".
Ultimately, that's the most important thing, for patients in our region.
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Xavier Mardling
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
