An Albury woman who had her surgery in Wagga postponed indefinitely following the border closure says she feels discriminated against because of her postcode.
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Radiographer Rebecca Gooden was due to have ankle surgery at Wagga's Calvary Hospital yesterday after struggling for 12 months with the after-effects of an injury.
Ms Gooden said the date of her operation had been confirmed with a call from her surgeon's rooms on July 7, the day before the NSW-Victoria border closed to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Three days later the rooms called again to tell Ms Gooden she would have to wait until the border reopened to have her surgery.
"Their reasoning was because of the border closures ... they were not willing to operate on me due to my location," she said.
Ms Gooden, who has three young children, said she informed the hospital she had been self-isolating for two weeks to prepare for surgery and was willing to have a COVID-19 test before making the trip to Wagga.
"I was instructed that no, due to the admitting protocols of the hospital they weren't willing to do that," she said.
Ms Gooden said she had already organised to have three months off work to recover from the surgery, which she had to have in Wagga or travel to Melbourne or Sydney.
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"I was pretty upset with the whole process. I understand that we're in a pandemic but it's really sort of turned things on its head," she said.
A hospital spokesperson said it had introduced a more stringent admissions policy following the border shutdown.
"Where patients have travelled to Victoria or Albury Local Government Area, we have requested the admitting doctor review on a case-by-case basis the urgency of patient procedures and consider postponing the procedure if non-urgent at this time of heightened risk," the spokesperson said.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District chief executive Jill Ludford said Wagga Base Hospital continued to take patients from Albury, but she couldn't comment on the privately-run Calvary Hospital.
Ms Gooden questioned the transparency of Calvary's new admissions policy.
"You have doctors that come down from Sydney ... what's the difference between someone who's come from Sydney to someone who's come from Albury," she said.
Catie McLeod
Catie is a reporter at The Daily Advertiser covering health and Wagga City Council. You can contact her on c.mcleod@dailyadvertiser.com.au or 0475 819 651.
Catie is a reporter at The Daily Advertiser covering health and Wagga City Council. You can contact her on c.mcleod@dailyadvertiser.com.au or 0475 819 651.
