With Victorian and NSW Health Ministers Jenny Mikakos and Brad Hazzard announcing construction will get underway on the Albury emergency department next year, Dr Haines said "we cannot wait until 2025" for the rehabilitation unit.

"Now that the emergency department building will start, it's the ideal time to get the rehabilitation unit starting as well," she said.

"We know people with mental health problems present to the ED and right now they have nowhere else to go; we need for them to be able to walk into the new ED, and then be referred to the mental health rehabilitation unit.

"I've been lobbying the Minister quite heavily to bring forward the $2.5 million promised during the election campaign so Albury Wodonga Health can start immediately on their specialist outpatient unit in Wodonga.

"What I'm continuing to speak to the Minister about is the $12 million also promised.

"It's crucial the federal government now come good on their promise and deliver that money in the next budget."

Albury Wodonga Health chair Nicki Melville thanked Dr Haines and Mr Hunt for the early release of the $2.5 million and said she hopes the specialist clinics will be built "parallel" to the Albury ED construction.

"The reason we asked him to bring it forward, is we've got a shovel-ready project," she said.

"We have $2.4 million sitting in the bank from Victoria to build at the Wodonga campus; part of that is a slow-stream mental health facility and outpatient clinics.

"Putting the $2.5 million from the federal government alongside the $2.4 million from the Victorian government, we can actually build a good building, instead of doing it in little tiny bits."

Ms Melville said both emergency departments would both keep operating through construction of the emergency services at Albury and mental health services at Wodonga.

"It will cement in the community's mind that Albury is the acute campus and Wodonga is that fantastic rehabilitation, day procedure, walk-in-walk-out, dialysis [service], just as important," she said.

"That [$2.5 million being brought forward] was really reassuring and we'll obviously try to get the rest of that money as soon as we can to build the inpatient ward for mental health."

Ms Melville said the announcement of $6 million from the Victorian government for a short-stay unit supporting the new Albury ED was "exciting news".

"It's really the start," she said.

"We've just completed another study that says we need 10 to 12 theatres and we've got eight at the moment.

"To have them [Ms Mikakos and Mr Hazzard] here together is a first, and we hope it will be the first of many visits where the two of them come together.

"Obviously the planning is really important, and now it's our job to lobby to make sure they [the state governments] are equally contributing."

Dr Haines acknowledged concerns that the new Albury ED won't be able to keep up with demand upon completion in 2022, but said the priority for AWH was the masterplan.

"I'm really pleased with yesterday's announcement from the Victorian Minister for Health," she said.

"This means the much-needed Albury Wodonga Health emergency department can now be built.

"The advice I have from the board and chief executive of Albury Wodonga Health is that they have a master plan and they want that master plan to be fully-funded, so they can get on with bringing the health services up to the state required by our growing population."