Indi MP wants federal government to help fund new Albury-Wodonga hospital, pointing to NSW precedent

The Independent pointed to the Commonwealth providing $128 million for the redevelopment of Shellharbour hospital in NSW as a precedent.

"In 2019 the federal government came to the table and chipped in to build that $700 million hospital at Shellharbour or to put funding towards it," Dr Haines said.

"I want to see the same thing here, I'm calling on the federal government to work with both state governments and bring the master plan to life, get us a world class hospital on the border."

Dr Haines' comments came as she launched her document What A New Hospital Would Mean For Us which contains stories from Border and North East patients and health workers.

The MP declined to say whether a new Albury-Wodonga hospital should be funded through the Victorian, NSW and federal governments each contributing a third of the spending.

"I'm not going to put a dollar figure on what I would like to see the federal government contribute, but I'd like to see them at the table," Dr Haines said.

She has aired her views with Health Minister Greg Hunt and Regional Health Minister David Gillespie.

Past health minister and Farrer MP Sussan Ley told The Border Mail that the Commonwealth did not bankroll hospital construction.

"We don't build hospitals but we do support or we can under the Regional Deal support the training that's vital for the next generation of doctors, the research that's already started at the cancer centre and the specialists who I envisage could have a dedicated precinct here that wraps around a public-private hospital that is world class," Ms Ley said.

Dr Haines would like the Regional Deal to be the vehicle to broker a new Twin Cities hospital agreement.

IN OTHER NEWS:

She said her thinking on the location for a new hospital would be guided by the Albury Wodonga Health master plan which is expected to be released soon.

On Monday night, Wodonga Council passed a motion that will see it advocated for a new hospital to be located on former railway land in the north of the city.

There was no mention of ground remediation costs in the debate.

As for services, Dr Haines believes a 21^st century hospital should include high level cardiac intervention and stroke care to save more lives.

"Like-sized communities have those, we should; it's a glaring gap really for the Border," she said.

The nurse and midwife said medicos had identified those holes in services as part of discussions.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: