OUR SAY: Albury Wodonga Health has fallen short of its ideals with approach

Those words of US cleric Norman Vincent Peale were pulled out by Albury Wodonga Health's chief executive Bill Appleby at Tuesday's annual meeting for his organisation.

But after 70 minutes of formalities, it appeared AWH had not changed much of its thinking on feedback to Albury hospital upgrade plans and retained the view it had when the project was announced last year.

The overriding sentiment from AWH chair Jonathan Green was "we're very grateful" for the $558 million in funding from governments and an apparent unwillingness to poke political masters in response to community concerns.

He ignored a question from Wodonga Council requesting AWH to encourage ministers to attend a health summit and would not entertain a request from lobby group Better Border Health to pause the Albury hospital expansion.

Questions were unable to be submitted from the floor and media cameras were banned from Wodonga's The Cube auditorium which hosted the meeting.

This approach is at odds with key objectives in the strategic plan for 2024-28 which was launched at the forum by Mr Green

"We will actively and meaningfully involve our community," Mr Green recited in outlining four pillars which make up the plan.

"We'll create and maintain effective partnerships and harness our collective capabilities to identify solutions to common problems and achieve shared objectives for our region."

When Better Border Health representatives, Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren and a patient awaiting a knee replacement leave a meeting frustrated at their questions not being answered it is hard to argue that AWH is living up to its engagement goals.

Yes there are a lot of grey areas around the hospital redevelopment but AWH should be clear on what it does know, particularly with the future of Wodonga hospital.

Peale is best known for his book The Power of Positive Thinking.

One of its chapters is headed "Expect the Best and Get It", that is what the community wants from AWH when it comes to the hospital project but this week's meeting showed a disconnect.

And so a change first announced in a newsletter, condemned in a petition and Parliament, then belatedly added to an agenda has now been reaffirmed in the forum where it should have started in the first place.

Albury Council on Monday night, December 11, voted by a clear majority not to hold its awards and citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day 2024, drawing a line under an issue that has generated plenty of debate in recent weeks.

Except that line was rubbed out again almost immediately.

During the council discussion, Darren Cameron labelled a 2187-signature petition against moving events from January 26 "a pathetic and ridiculous outcome". Perhaps a harsh assessment considering more than 2000 is not a bad effort for a community petition where opinions are so divided.

Farrer MP Sussan Ley, who started the petition, did not let these words pass but held firm to her belief that most Albury people did not agree with the council's stance.

Monday's resolution also endorsed consultation before 2025 and noted that such policy matters be subject to a decision in the chamber and not via briefings.

That last clause highlights a key sticking point in this whole discussion - that a significant change of direction and priorities was not debated by councillors, was not put out for public consultation and was not announced in the same way as so many council initiatives.

From the beginning, this modus operandi seemed flawed and nothing that has transpired since has proven otherwise.

Nothing illustrates how much we take electricity for granted like a blackout.

No doubt many of us have flicked light switches automatically as we walk through a suddenly-darkened house, looking for torches or candles.

It's a frustration that Wodonga residents have endured too often lately, with more than 4600 AusNet customers affected by the latest power outage last week.

But, as Wodonga mother Shirley McKernan has reminded us, losing access to this utility is no trivial matter.

Rather, it's potentially life-threatening.

As the carer for her daughter Matilda, Ms McKernan put her straight onto bottled oxygen when the lights went out. She also alerted specialist hospital support and contacted AusNet directly to find out the possible length of the outage. And she considers her family more lucky than some because they do have backup oxygen bottles.

"There's a lot of people who rely on power for things like oxygen machines, suction units, nebulisers and dialysis machines, who are forgotten about in these situations," she said. "And for something like this to happen, it's a matter of life and death."

AusNet has apologised for the repeated disruptions to the Wodonga underground cable network and says it's investigating the cause, intending "to fast-track work to determine a long-term solution".

Let's hope this does happen, and quickly, because if you rely on electricity for not just your health but your life, a blackout signals far more than inconvenience.