Wodonga Council

Has the board, in consultation with the state governments in making the decision to redevelop the existing site, considered the consequential impacts including but not limited to traffic congestion, public transport links, legal and border restrictions?

If so, what work is being undertaken and how can our community be assured that these significant issues are being considered.

The decision to redevelop the existing site was jointly made by the Victorian and NSW Governments.

New South Wales Health Infrastructure will be leading planning and delivery of the redevelopment. There will be a robust community engagement program with stakeholders on both sides of the Border which will encompass these elements.

This is at the start of the planning phase. As a State Significant Development, the project will work with both Albury and Wodonga Councils as well as State planning, transport and other authorities to ensure all potential impacts are considered.

The Project will engage with specialist stakeholders and agencies regarding site conditions, traffic, parking demands and support services. Interested community members will also have an opportunity to participate in various engagement activities.

Albury Wodonga Health staff have been operating in a cross-border, inter-state health model for more than a decade, and are expertly skilled in responding to the healthcare needs and challenges of the border community.

This new hospital will make their work even more effective and efficient.

Wodonga Council

Is the board concerned that following the announcement to redevelop Albury Wodonga hospital on the existing site that there appears to be a lack of transparency from both state governments regarding the provision of information and data to the community, including a sound business case, that supports the recent funding decision?

If so what steps are the board taking to advocate for both state governments to be accountable to the community?

We can’t speak for the State Governments on that issue, however, NSW Health Infrastructure will develop a business case during 2023 which identifies the scope, program, recurrent cost and benefits from the investments. 

This will be informed by architects, engineers, workforce, IT, a benefits plan amongst other things. I can also tell you that Our Clinical Services Plan is a publically available document available through our website.

Our Clinical Services Plan identifies the services needed for the border region in line with forecast population growth and community profile, over the next 15 years. A Clinical Services Plan is based on population projections, demographics and contemporary trends in health care. This can evolve with changes in any of these components.

The preliminary master planning merely identified the size and scale of infrastructure required to deliver those services, it was not a blueprint for a building.

The preliminary master planning, which was effectively a site-study, included input from clinicians, our Consumer Advisory Committee and a consumer user group – and that work is going to continue.

With $558m now committed as a first tranche to the project we’ll soon be commencing a widespread community engagement program in conjunction with New South Wales Health Infrastructure.

Community feedback is vital to this project and will be incorporated into planning. New South Wales Health Infrastructure will be leading a comprehensive community engagement program. They rely on feedback from communities to plan health facilities that meet local needs.

New South Wales Health Infrastructure has also made a commitment to reporting back to the community at every stage to explain how public input has influenced the final design.

Wodonga Council

Does the board’s still hold the position that a new hospital on a greenfield site is the best investment in high quality health services that is appropriate to meet the current and future growth of the region and if so has it developed an advocacy position to lobby both state governments and to approach the federal government for support?

The Board’s unanimous view has always been supportive of a single site, consolidating all acute and sub-acute services on one location.

While a brand new hospital on a new site was aspirational and our preferred option, preliminary site assessments found that a single site hospital and required services can also be delivered on a redeveloped Albury campus.

The focus of our advocacy has been to achieve a single site hospital for the border as the best possible healthcare outcome for our community and staff, which we have now achieved and are very excited about getting on with the job of building it.

I’d also like to emphasise the benefits of a brownfield development. Through the leadership of NSW Health Infrastructure, the aim is to commence construction in 2024 and with a completed clinical services building in 2027/2028, a much faster timeline than building on a greenfield site.

We will have extra points of care for our community more quickly, leading to shorter waiting times for ED, increased surgical capacity, more inpatient beds and fewer transfers across the border or to Melbourne.

We'll achieve service adjacencies and efficiencies with existing infrastructure investments.

By building on our Albury campus, we won't alienate our existing services or recent capital investments such as the Regional Cancer Centre, new Emergency Department, Hilltop accommodation, and the Cardiac Catheter Lab, which will all be considered in the design of the new facility.

Better yet, it allows us to maintain our direct link to University of NSW Rural Clinical School located at the Albury site to help us attract, train and retain the best and brightest young clinicians to our region.

And we can’t underestimate the value this new facility will offer in attracting and retaining our clinical workforce which is something we desperately need.

And as I mentioned in my presentation tonight, the work will continue. We won’t stop at $558-million. The advocacy goes on and we’re hopeful that our community leaders can constructively lend their leadership to the cause.

Wodonga Council

In the board's opinion, will the redeveloped facility be able to cater for our immediate and existing demand for beds and services under the present Clinical Services Plan and funding model?

The committed $558m in government funding allows us to take a significant first step in delivering on our Clinical Services Plan which projects through to 2037. As more detailed planning gets underway we will be able to determine what can be delivered in this first stage of development, and what will be required in future stages.

While $558m is a great start, we will continue to advocate for additional funding for future stages. AWH will continue to work with Victorian and NSW governments to fund the workforce required to deliver the health services.

Initially the funding will pave the way for a multi-storey, world-class hospital on the Border, including a new clinical services building.

There are a number of additional service advantages to building on the Albury campus which we have covered in previous questions.

Wodonga Council

Does the board believe that the funding and support Albury Wodonga Health receives from the state governments is fair and equitable in light of the hospital’s own infographic which shows it lags significantly behind on capital investment when compared with other regional centres

We continue to lobby all levels of government for funding and the very purpose of the AWH infographic was to demonstrate to stakeholders that it was our turn. 

While $558m is a great start, we will continue to advocate for our community, to ensure we deliver the best of healthcare for our region. 

Together with NSW Health Infrastructure, we’re now getting on with the job of building a new hospital – with the Clinical Services Building shovel ready by 2024 and completed by 2027-28.

With this decision made, we can also turn our attention to broader service planning for our catchment and, with community consultation, determine what services will be provided from the Wodonga Campus in the future and what capital investment will be required.

Better Border Health and Border Medical Association

Following the NSW and Victorian Govts’ announcement in October 2022 to redevelop Albury Wodonga Hospital on the existing Albury Hospital site, why didn’t the entire Board of Albury Wodonga Health resign, given its earlier unanimous decision to support construction of a new hospital for Albury Wodonga on a greenfield site?

Further
If the Board had earlier resolved to support construction of a new Albury Wodonga Hospital on a greenfield site, why was this decision not made clear to the community ahead of the NSW and Victorian Govt announcement in October?

Our vision has always been for a single site hospital, consolidating acute and sub-acute campuses on a single location. While greenfield was preferred, brownfield was always a viable option.

Ultimately, both Victorian and NSW Governments agreed that they would jointly fund construction on the Albury campus, bringing all services together to provide the best care for the community. Our role as a Board is to enact and govern the decisions of government.

Our primary goal has always been a single-site hospital, where we could deliver the best and safest patient care, which the Government funding will now allow us to achieve. To have successfully secured $558m in funding to achieve that is cause for celebration, not consternation.

We’ve been very open that a greenfield site would have been ideal, but also that we can still achieve the objectives of our Clinical Services Plan by redeveloping the Albury campus and consolidating our acute and sub-acute services.

As I’ve mentioned, redeveloping on the existing Albury campus will allow us to achieve our goal of a new hospital much sooner, addressing the issues of patient safety which is a major challenge as we work across two campuses. It’s also going to be a significant improvement for our staff, who are working and treating patients in facilities that are no longer fit-for-purpose.

The vast majority of new hospital developments across Australia have occurred on - and will continue to be - delivered as brownfield developments to support existing infrastructure. For example Wagga; Shepparton; Bendigo; Lismore; Warrnambool; Ballarat and Geelong.

The current focus of the Board, through the AWH Executive is to proactively work with NSW Health Infrastructure (who are delivering the project) to achieve the goals of the Clinical Services Plan and achieve the best outcome for the community from this first tranche of investment. As a Board we are committed to continuing that work.

It's important to note that our Wodonga Campus will still play a major role in our future plans. It is also now necessary to develop a comprehensive Services Plan for the Wodonga campus, to detail the type and scope of services that are best offered at the site from 2027 and beyond. Planning and consultation will commence mid-2023 working with the Victorian Department of Health.

Our aspirations to develop the best possible facilities on the Wodonga campus, drawing on input from our staff and the insights of our consumers and broader community, remains unchanged. Long term, we will deliver a world-class facility for our staff and patients at our Wodonga campus.

Better Border Health and Border Medical Association

How can the community have confidence in the State Government funded proposal to redevelop the existing Albury Wodonga Hospital site when the view of doctors and clinicians who are members of the Border Medical Association is that the proposal ignores the recommendations of the Albury Wodonga Health Clinical Services Plan.

Further
The BMA membership is also concerned the proposal incorporates a reduction by 25 per cent or 18,000 sq metres of the floor plan influenced by the recommendations of the Clinical Services Plan for a new hospital to meet the needs of the community.

One of the key themes of the Clinical Services Plan was the need consolidate acute services and specialists on one campus. The CSP called for a single site hospital, it did not advocate for either a brownfield or a greenfield solution.

The committed $558m in government funding allows us to take a significant first step in delivering on our CSP.

Clinicians including the highly respected Dr David Clancy and Dr Barb Robertson were consulted for their wisdom and skills, with important seats on the Project Control Group.

As more detailed planning gets underway we will be able to determine what can be delivered in this first stage of development, and what will be required in future stages.

In terms of footprint, that is referring to an early iteration of the Clinical Services Plan that was later updated based on new population data, projections and the ever-evolving nature of contemporary models of care.

The final Clinical Services Plan approved by health experts on our Project Control Group showed that we can fully realise the objectives of our CSP within the current footprint at the Albury Campus.

Better Border Health and Border Medical Association

How can the Albury Wodonga Health board assure the Border community of the ongoing delivery of high quality, safe health services during this extended period of building disruption if the State Governments - funded proposal to redevelop the existing Albury Hospital site goes ahead?

The current Emergency Department redevelopment at the Albury Hospital is a good example of how a major infrastructure upgrade and be delivered in conjunction with high quality healthcare.

And in terms of project scale, similar brownfield developments have been successfully delivered in Wagga; Shepparton; Bendigo; Lismore; Warrnambool; Ballarat and Geelong.

The care and safety of our staff, patients, their families and the community is our primary concern and we will work with all project stakeholders to ensure it is not compromised throughout construction.

New South Wales Health Infrastructure are also highly experienced in large scale hospital construction on existing campuses and we will work with them to ensure services won’t be compromised.

Better Border Health and Border Medical Association

Has the board, in consultation with the state governments in making the decision to redevelop the existing site, considered the consequential impacts including but not limited to traffic congestion, public transport links, legal and border restrictions?

If so, what work is being undertaken and how can our community be assured that these significant issues are being considered.

The current Emergency Department redevelopment at the Albury Hospital is a good example of how a major infrastructure upgrade and be delivered in conjunction with high quality healthcare.

And in terms of project scale, similar brownfield developments have been successfully delivered in Wagga; Shepparton; Bendigo; Lismore; Warrnambool; Ballarat and Geelong.

The care and safety of our staff, patients, their families and the community is our primary concern and we will work with all project stakeholders to ensure it is not compromised throughout construction.

New South Wales Health Infrastructure are also highly experienced in large scale hospital construction on existing campuses and we will work with them to ensure services won’t be compromised.

Better Border Health and Border Medical Association

When will the Master Plan and/or a Business Case for the redevelopment of the Albury Wodonga Hospital on the existing Albury Hospital site be made public?

Planning documents will be made available to the community in coming months although the business case is Cabinet-in-Confidence and in line with the parameters of those documents can’t be released to the public.

It’s important to note that the Master Plan - as it’s being called - was a preliminary site study that has since been superseded and will continue to change over the next six to nine months. As I mentioned earlier, this was not a blueprint for a building but identified the size and scale of infrastructure required for a future hospital.

The $558m is a consolidation of 5 Capital Investment Proposals, Investment Decision Documents, business cases and budget announcements since 2019-20. This announcement has, in fact, brought all the various components together to get better value for the community and has several years of progressing multiple business cases through the government planning and funding cycles.

A detailed business case will form part of the next stages of the process and that will be led by New South Wales Health Infrastructure.

Dr Jason Kong

We live in a fast growing community full of young families. What is AWH’s position on the services that we must build in the next 5 years to address the current and developing need for healthcare services? I have particular interest in specialist consulting, paediatric dental and other specialist surgical services.

It makes sense to work with the private healthcare sector on some shared infrastructure. Are we working with private healthcare system to form a shared critical care and theatre complex for highly specialised surgery that is possible to manage here, yet would otherwise have to be done elsewhere?

Is there time frame within which AWH plans to bring neurosurgical, thoracic and high level trauma services into the area, and if so, what is the plan to achieve this?

Thank you for your question Jason. In terms of neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery these are highly specialised clinical procedures that aren't in our current 5 year plan so will remain capital city based for now.

We're always investigating ways to expand specialty services operating through Albury Wodonga Health. As you would have seen tonight with our presentation from Dr Kirkby our expanded vascular surgery services are a result of that work. We've also enhanced our plastic surgery services.

And of course, we have a new hospital to look forward to and the opportunities that will come along with that.