Dr McGirr said some Murrumbidgee hospitals rely too heavily on telehealth, with a "temptation" for the technology to replace the hiring of doctors.

"I think this is a problem: that you start using it as a backup for the nursing staff, which I acknowledge that's important to have, but you get used to it," he said.

"And we forget that what people really want is face-to-face care from doctors in their communities.

"I think they are struggling to recruit the doctors and I think they are struggling to provide those services."

MLHD chief executive Jill Ludford said health officials aimed to have all emergency departments in the region staffed by registered nurses with a doctor available.

But doctors are not always available in smaller emergency departments, where staff may then use the "Remote Medical Consultation Service" to have a doctor virtually assess and treat patients via telehealth.

The Murrumbidgee is home to three large hospitals in Wagga, Griffith and Albury and 30 smaller hospitals such as those in Cootamundra and Tumut.

Dr McGirr said doctors needed a special set of skills to work in smaller centres, most of which are staffed by general practitioners who also provide primary care.

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"In a town like Tumut, you've got GPs in the community and you've got a hospital. But the hospital has to be staffed by the same GPs [and] they sort of have to be a combination of a general practitioner and a hospital doctor," he said.

Member for Murray Helen Dalton, whose electorate covers the MLHD's west, said telehealth was "no substitute for face-to-face treatment".

"Our hospitals need to do more and stop centralising services to Wagga, when Wagga's already overloaded," Mrs Dalton said.

"The other day, someone was telling me ... about how their son broke his arm and they eventually got to Wagga and in the waiting room there was someone from Leeton, someone from Coleambally and someone from Griffith," she said.

MLHD chief executive Jill Ludford said the region's patients received hospital care in the most appropriate facility "as close to home as possible".

"Hospital networks provide a pathway for complex patients who need specialist care and also for patients returning to their home hospital for continued care," Ms Ludford said.

Ms Ludford also pointed to a Murrumbidgee training program announced by federal regional health minister Mark Coulton in Wagga in October.

This training mode aims to equip 20 junior doctors with additional skills such as obstetrics and emergency medicine to become rural generalists.