A region that has outgrown its hospital

Our region faces a critical healthcare crisis as a result of inadequate hospital infrastructure and a systemic failure in rural and regional health funding.

Despite being one of the largest inland population centres in Australia, comparable in size to Bendigo and Ballarat, Albury Wodonga Health (AWH) does not have a hospital that can meet current demand, let alone future growth.

The primary issue is clear:

The region needs a new, fit-for-purpose hospital on a new site.

Redeveloping the existing Albury Base Hospital will not deliver the scale, capacity or flexibility required for decades to come.

An aging site that cannot meet demand

The current hospital site is constrained, outdated and unable to support the level of expansion required to safely serve the region. As a result, AWH operates well beyond safe limits daily, creating pressure across emergency care, inpatient services and elective surgery.

Key statistics:

• Daily hospital occupancy rates of 110 to 125%, far exceeding the safe operating threshold of 85%
• Daily bed shortages of 30 to 70 beds
• Ambulance ramping and emergency department congestion
• An elective surgery waiting list of approximately 3000 people, the largest in regional Victoria outside metropolitan hospitals

These pressures are structural, not temporary.

A hospital that does not match the size of its region

AWH is the largest regional health service between Sydney and Melbourne, yet its infrastructure is significantly smaller than comparable centres.

Key statistics:

• 272 acute inpatient beds, compared with 460 in Bendigo and 407 in Ballarat
• Fewer beds than smaller regional centres including Wagga Wagga, Tamworth, Orange and Lismore
• Only 9 dialysis chairs, compared to 24 in Wagga Wagga

This gap in infrastructure is a primary driver of overcrowding, long waitlists and system stress.

The human cost

Behind these statistics are real and distressing consequences for people across our region.

• Ambulances ramped for hours, leaving communities without emergency coverage
• Towns such as Corryong experiencing up to 16 hours without ambulance coverage
• Families driving loved ones to hospital during medical emergencies due to ambulance delays
• Residents choosing to forgo or cease treatment rather than leave their community
• Elderly patients discharged late at night without transport or support
• Delayed diagnoses, poorer health outcomes and preventable deaths

The proposed redevelopment of Albury Base Hospital does not resolve the underlying problem; the site itself cannot accommodate the hospital the region needs.

The current proposal:

• Adds only 35 additional acute beds, less than the existing daily shortfall and far short of the estimated 150 to 200 additional beds needed
• Will take years to deliver while demand continues to increase
• Has been described as clinicians as “the expensive option that buys us more of the same”
• Ignores the 2021 Clinical Services Plan and evidence-based masterplan developed with clinicians, health care workers, government representatives and the community
• Risks locking the region into inadequate infrastructure for decades to come

The 2021 AWH Master Plan recommended a new hospital on a new site.

A greenfield development is the only option that can deliver:

• Capacity that meets current demand and future population growth
• Modern, flexible infrastructure designed for contemporary healthcare delivery
• Sufficient beds and services to meaningfully reduce waitlists and overcrowding
• A hospital that reflects the region’s role as a major inland health hub

This approach enables proper long-term planning, staged expansion and modern clinical design; outcomes that are not achievable on the current constrained site.

There is strong precedent for this approach. In Shellharbour, NSW, a coordinated campaign by councils, clinicians, communities and MPs successfully secured a greenfield hospital after an initial brownfield proposal.

AWH operates under a unique intergovernmental arrangement between NSW and Victoria. While both states share responsibility, the current model is not fit for purpose.

Key issues include:

• Planning certainty limited to 10-year cycles, undermining long-term infrastructure planning
• An accountability gap that allows responsibility to be deflected between governments
• Neither state treating AWH as genuine funding priority

While the primary need is a new hospital on a new site, it must be supported by sustainable operational funding to function safely and effectively.

Across rural and regional Australia, per-capita health spending decreases with distance from capital cities, creating a “postcode penalty”. This has a direct impact on staffing, service availability and patient outcomes.

For Albury Wodonga, inadequate operational funding compounds the pressure created by insufficient infrastructure. Addressing both is essential, but without a new hospital, funding alone cannot solve this crisis.