A NSW probe into healthcare spending is set to come to Albury.
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The Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding is planning to hold hearings and consult with the community later this year.
The Border Mail has been told sessions are likely to be held in November, although the exact dates are yet to be confirmed.
News of the arrival of commissioner Richard Beasley and related legal teams on the Border has been welcomed by Albury MP Justin Clancy and the Greens Albury-based health spokeswoman Amanda Cohn.
They had both requested the inquiry visit Albury to gain an understanding of the area's health funding peculiarities.
"I welcome the health commission inquiry here on the Border," Mr Clancy said.
"There's added challenges and complexities associated with healthcare in border regions, not only Albury-Wodonga, but communities right along the border.
"So I certainly welcome the commission coming and encourage the community to engage with them."
Mr Clancy, who met Mr Beasley in March this year, said he would appreciate the opportunity to speak to his submission to the inquiry.
In that document he raised concerns about electronic medical records being incompatible between NSW and Victoria.
"Not only is this a safety issue for patients, but it has become apparent from Albury Wodonga Health that the lack of integrated systems has become a disincentive for employment and the attraction of new medical staff," Mr Clancy submitted.
The Liberal Party Opposition MP also stated that health infrastructure planning between NSW and Victoria also "faces the real challenge" of working together on developing Albury hospital.
"The growing region must be recognised by both states and the federal government and supported to achieve the required service delivery," Dr Clancy wrote.
He too flagged emergency department pressures, locum costs and inequities in NSW programs not being provided for Albury residents with its hospital "a blank spot which is too hard to integrate into NSW plans and spending".
Dr Cohn said the stop-off on the Border was a chance to showcase concerns.
"This visit will be a huge opportunity to highlight the ways that our cross border community is short-changed when it comes to health services," Dr Cohn said.
"The NSW government needs to recognise that we have a regional catchment the size of Wollongong.
"Discrepancies between states on pay and conditions for health workers, and the bungled Albury hospital redevelopment plan need the scrutiny of the inquiry"
The Upper House MP's submission featured largely statewide observations although she noted it had been shaped by her own experience as a GP in Albury.
Others to have provided submissions to the inquiry include Better Border Health, the Border Medical Association and Henty health consumer advocate Richard Hendrie.
The Better Border Health entry, authored by its directors Di Thomas and Stan Stavros, outlines concerns with the planned upgrade of Albury hospital and contrasts the $225 million in NSW funding with other regional infrastructure works in the state.
It claims the Albury works equate to $4167 per capita compared to greater per head of population spending for hospital projects at Tweed Heads ($11,297), Griffith ($9259), Wagga ($7561) and Dubbo ($5318).
"It is our observation that funding appears pretty much dependent on political circumstance, pork barrelling and marginality of the political seat," Ms Thomas and Mr Stavros remark.
The Border Medical Association also pointed to differing expenditure between Albury Wodonga Health and Tweed Heads and Wagga hospitals.
Mr Hendrie would like to see a greater emphasis put on patient viewpoints and reforms to hospitals in small Riverina towns.
"Many of these facilities serve few patients, incur high operational costs, employ excessive staff, house underutilised state-of-the-art equipment and would be more efficiently consolidated into central base hospitals in Wagga and Albury," he wrote.
The inquiry took evidence at hearings in Wagga earlier this year and is due to deliver its final report to the NSW Governor in March 2025.
