Greens MP Amanda Cohn flags hospital letter protest

The former Albury deputy mayor has set up a form letter on her website, amandacohn.org, which can then be emailed to the minister, Ryan Park.

Headlined 'Tell the Health Minister Albury-Wodonga needs a single-site hospital!' the letter states the planned $558 million expenditure on refurbishing the Borella Road site is an "inefficient use of precious public funds".

Mr Park is asked to review the decision, with the letter noting a master plan recommendation for a greenfields hospital and the outlay of $723.3 million for a new Tweed Valley Hospital on the NSW-Queensland border.

"As a new Health Minister in a new government, you have the opportunity to review this poor decision made by the previous government," the letter states.

"Please listen to local experts and the extensive original master planning process to make sure that public funding is being spent most effectively to meet the health care needs of Albury-Wodonga, now and into the future."

Dr Cohn, who worked as a GP before being elected, hopes her letter move will prompt a rethink from Mr Park.

"I've launched this campaign on my website so the needs of the Albury-Wodonga community can't be ignored by the NSW Minister for Health," Dr Cohn said.

"The NSW Government's recently released 'masterplan' for the Albury redevelopment is not the single-site hospital that we need.

"Now is the time to keep the pressure on the NSW government to review the decision to progress a brownfield redevelopment, instead of the greenfield site that the extensive 2021 master planning process recommended.

"I encourage the community to join me in calling on Minister Park to seize the opportunity to make sure $558 million of precious public money is spent effectively to meet the health care needs of our region."

Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren, who has led local government opposition to the hospital plan, wrote a letter to Mr Park soon after the election of the NSW Labor government in March and received a reply referring him to NSW Health Infrastructure.

Nevertheless, he welcomed Dr Cohn's initiative.

"I support every bit of it," Cr Mildren said.

"Anything that's going to productively raise the issue and get it in front of governments and decision makers the better it will be."

Meanwhile, Cr Mildren said planning for a summit on the hospital issue, involving three levels of government was proceeding with a tentative date of next March being proposed.

He said support had been received from Indi MP Helen Haines with replies from other politicians still to come.

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