The Towong and Indigo Shire Councils have joined Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, in raising serious concerns about having the worst ambulance response times in the state.

“Regional ambulances are propping up our failing health system, leaving their own communities dangerously exposed and driving response times to be the worst in state,” Mr Tilley said.

“The Chiltern ambulance was called into Albury Wodonga 462 times in 2024, Beechworth Ambulance was sent to cover border shortfalls on 175 occasions, Tallangatta 125 times and even Corryong – 122kms away – was used 14 times.

“The latest data from the Victorian Agency for Health Information shows that Indigo (Chiltern and Beechworth ambulances) and Towong (Tallangatta and Corryong) are among the worst in the state for emergency ambulance responses.

Towong and Indigo councils have made a joint submission to the Inquiry into Ambulance Victoria as they have recorded the longest ambulance response times in Victoria since 2019.

“The issue stems from sustained pressure on the Albury Wodonga Health system which is directly impacting the ability to deliver timely emergency care to rural communities,” Towong mayor, Cr Andrew Whitehead explained.

“While both councils deeply appreciate the skill, commitment and compassion of ambulance first responders and paramedics, we are calling for systemic improvements to better support frontline workers and the communities they serve.

“Ambulances are frequently ramped, waiting to offload patients due to the daily shortage of beds at Albury Wodonga Health.

“The data is clear – our communities are waiting too long for emergency care.

“This is not a reflection on our paramedics who do an outstanding job under immense pressure. The delays are caused by hospital bed shortages and ramping, which leads to longer response times.

“It is not unusual for an ambulance from Corryong to be out of the district for six to eight hours, leaving the community vulnerable in the event of an emergency.”

Towong and Indigo Councils are working in partnership to advocate for:

• Additional ambulance resources to bring local response times closer to the state average; and
• A new, single-site regional hospital on a greenfield site.

“Both councils are 100 per cent committed to supporting their rural communities,” Cr Whitehead said.

“Healthcare is the number one priority for our residents and there needs to be a significant improvement in ambulance response times for both our shires.

“We are calling on the Minister for Health to take urgent action and address these shortcomings.”

Mr Tilley added that the issue has been compounded following the Victorian government’s latest budget decision to fund just nine of the sixteen short-stay beds at Albury that act as a circuit breaker to the demand for emergency beds.

“It demonstrates how ramping at Albury Wodonga Health robs our district of ambulances,” he said.

“Indigo and Towong shires are repeatedly in the five worst performing districts when it comes to ambulances needed in a life-threatening emergency.

“And here we have the answer – those ambulances are here in Albury Wodonga when they should have been looking after their communities!”

Mr Tilley said the solution was not as simple as more hospital beds though.

“Ambulance ramping is partly the result of the lack of beds for patients but there are other factors at play here,” he said.

“People are struggling to get into their GP, some can’t afford the cost and so they turn to the ED as an alternative and increasingly they turn up at emergency far sicker than they should through not seeing their local GP.

“The emergency departments at Albury and Wodonga see between 200 to 210 patients each day and have just 44 beds. Geelong’s Barwon Health is the largest regional ED and sees, on average, about 220 patients a day, so 10 to 20 more than our health service and yet it has almost double the number of beds.

“We also know funding requests for modular units and a ward at Mercy Health that could provide additional beds to Albury Wodonga Health have repeatedly been ignored.

This article appeared in Corryong Courier, 26 June 2025.