Living in a rural area often means simply having to accept you're not going to get the same ease-of-access to top-quality health care as you would in the city.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Albury-Wodonga has a wealth of medical expertise and allied services, but go out further and the choices drop away markedly.
Outreach health service provision and telehealth have played a role in filling these gaps, but because of economies of scale it will never be the same as what is available in bigger centres.
But such challenging scenarios can often bring forth innovative solutions.
One such example is the work being done by Alpine Health's Pulmonary and Cardiac Exercise and Education program.
As its title says, it's about heart and lung health with a focus on the recovery process for patients.
It's a high-quality program that, since 2018, has meant patients getting the best possible care and ongoing rehabilitation into the future.
But instead of what happened previously, where patients had to travel to Albury-Wodonga, Wangaratta or even Melbourne, this excellent program can be sourced in their own community.
This really is what should always be the case but so often cannot, so those involved in instigating and implementing the Alpine program are deserving of all our thanks