NSW Regional Health Minister offers some hope of movement with mapping out new Albury-Wodonga hospital

NSW Regional Health Minister Bronnie Taylor said on Friday, via a spokeswoman, there was a deal to meet Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley.

"Having visited Albury hospital in 2021, minister Taylor is in regular contact with her Victorian counterpart Martin Foley and the member for Albury Justin Clancy about progressing Albury-Wodonga hospital planning," she said.

"Both ministers have agreed to meet, along with the member for Albury, at the earliest possible opportunity to discuss improved health services for the people of Albury-Wodonga."

The comments follow Farrer MP Sussan Ley calling for a meeting to up planning, after her freedom of information request to obtain the master plan for the new hospital was rejected by the Victorian Department of Health.

The Border Mail on Friday asked Mr Foley's office if he would meet Ms Taylor.

That question was not answered, although it was noted Mr Foley was in regular contact with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

However, a government spokesman launched an attack on Ms Ley in the wake of her FOI bid.

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"We won't be lectured by Sussan Ley, who served as health minister under the Abbott government which delivered the biggest cut to public health in Australia's history and, who just this year, sat around the Cabinet table and cut a further $1.5 billion from Victoria's health system," he said.

"Unlike Ms Ley, who sat in cabinet for nine years and didn't deliver a single thing for AWH - we have a strong record of investing in our regional health services, including at AWH where in partnership with NSW we are delivering an upgraded emergency department and short stay unit."

Despite the NSW government allotting $30 million to the improved Albury casualty section in 2017, groundwork is yet to begin and Mr Foley's office declined to say at what the point the project was now.

In addition to pushing for a ministerial meeting, Ms Ley also called on Thursday for the Albury Wodonga Health board to be more transparent about what was happening with planning for a new hospital and the state of the master plan, described as a draft by the Victorian health department.

In reply, chairman Matt Burke said his board and management was working with the state governments "to provide additional information regarding design, costs, program and staging aspects of the plan."

"AWH's clinical services plan outlines the need for a new hospital, with all critical, emergency, surgical and medical services located together on one site," Mr Burke said.

"The AWH board is actively working with governments and political stakeholders to secure funding to build the hospital infrastructure our staff and community deserve.

"The border community deserves a world-class health service, delivering the healthcare services the region needs, closer to home.

"This can only be achieved by maintaining the current cross border healthcare model."

Ms Ley has previously said the cross border model is "not working" and on Friday she told ABC radio "we need something different and we need to do it in favour of our people".

Meanwhile, new hospital lobby group Better Border Health representative Di Thomas said she met Indi MP Helen Haines this week to discuss the progress of a petition to be presented to federal parliament.

It reads: "We therefore ask the House to ask the Federal Government to work with the Victorian and NSW Governments to ensure sufficient funding is set aside in the 2023-24 Budget or before, to make a significant Federal contribution to the planning, design and construction of a new single site regional public hospital for Albury-Wodonga."

Ms Thomas said "several hundred" signatures had been collected but the petition needed to be in paper form to meet parliamentary rules and there were plans to distribute it more widely to attract the desired 5000 names before it is handed to Dr Haines to table.

There are also plans to compile electronic petitions to present to the Victorian and NSW parliaments.

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