Emergency departments were inundated with those unwell from the Victorian long weekend onwards, prompting Albury Wodonga Health to invoke a 'code yellow' at 5.30pm on Tuesday.

It is expected to be in place until Friday or Saturday.

Albury Wodonga Health chief operating officer Emma Poland, who is leading an incident management team for the code yellow, said the status had two key functions.

"Firstly being to respond to the immediate demand and to create that additional surge capacity for the next 24-48 hours and through the weekend," Ms Poland said.

"It's also about starting that planning piece for how we structure ourselves and what resources we need to really be able to respond to what seems like will be a new normal for us."

Ms Poland said an average of more than 200 patients were visiting emergency departments at both hospitals with 227 on Monday.

That compares to 160-170 per day in COVID periods.

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There has been a spike in category two patients, those needing to be seen within 10 minutes, and those requiring emergency surgery.

"Part of that reason for calling the code yellow is that we did have ambulances with extended delays in terms of stretcher times," Ms Poland said.

"We had potentially patients on stretchers for prolonged periods of time, obviously that's not good for our patients or our community."

Ms Poland the current plight facing Albury Wodonga Health showed how more than just a new casualty ward at the East Albury hospital was needed.

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"Our new emergency department is due to open its doors in mid-2023, that will have additional care points, but I think really importantly we need the in-patient beds and capacity to support those care points," she said.

"It's not so much necessarily about the emergency capacity, it's also about our hospital capacity to support the admissions from those patients presenting at our emergency departments."

Ms Poland downplayed the impact of emergency pressures on those awaiting elective surgery.

"There has been minimal disruption to elective surgery this week, certainly there's been no impact to urgent elective surgery but we have had to review some lists, given the increase in emergency surgery demand," she said.

"There may have some procedures rescheduled."

Ms Poland said the only other time in recent years a code yellow had been called for emergency demands was last May for a week.

An unspecified number of hospital staff are in isolation due to COVID and Albury Wodonga Health has a critical shortage of nurses.

However, Ms Poland urged those needing emergency care to still attend, saying "we will not turn you away".

The code yellow call came on the same day as the Victorian Opposition's health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier was on the Border speaking to medicos with ties to the hospitals.

Her Liberal Party colleague and member for Benambra Bill Tilley said the internal pressures highlighted the need for concrete improvements.

"This shouldn't come as a shock, we know there is a desperate need for better facilities at Albury Wodonga Health," Mr Tilley said.

"The staff are under the pump too.

"We have 250-something beds between the two hospitals that are almost always full and a long way short of the 600 to 700 beds the experts tell us we need."

Mr Tilley reiterated the need for the Victorian Health Minister to publish a completed health master plan and hasten work on the new emergency department.

Wodonga mayor Kev Poulton said Twin Cities hospital staff were under undue pressure because of border bureaucracy.

"I think anybody who walks into our local health services is always greeted by healthcare professionals who are working under immense stress that they wouldn't get at another regional city, they wouldn't get that working environment anywhere else, it's simply because it's Albury-Wodonga and that holds us back," Cr Poulton said.

"The second we fix our health and fix our education, the second that these cities will take care of themselves."

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