Towong mayor, Cr Andrew Whitehead, was front and centre when 500 people gathered at Albury’s QEII Square on Saturday to rally for a new single site, greenfield hospital on the border.
The rally was the latest protest by medical professionals, community members, and local government representatives in an ongoing campaign for a new hospital after the announcement of a $558 million funding co-commitment from the NSW and Victorian state governments to redevelop the existing Albury Base hospital.
There are serious concerns about the inadequacy of the proposed redevelopment, specifically that it does not address the Albury Wodonga Health 2021 clinical services plan that outlined the need for a new hospital on a new site.
Speaking at the rally, Cr Whitehead said that “a broken system” had contributed to his father’s death after he had to wait in an ambulance for five hours before being admitted to the Albury hospital. “He started to feel unwell on the Sunday evening (March 2nd). On Monday morning an ambulance was called and he left Corryong hospital at 7.45 heading to Albury.
“At this time no-one could have known what was wrong with him. My father was ramped at Albury for over five hours. Cr Whitehead said that when his father Bill (88) was eventually admitted to the ED at 3.30pm, medics performed a scan to discover blood supply to the bowel had been blocked.
“By that time, my father’s choice of whether or not to have an operation had been taken away,” he said.
Cr Whitehead added that he was confident that many other people had similar stories to tell.
This article appeared in Corryong Courier, 3 April 2025.
