Albury Wodonga Health has revealed plans to redevelop its hospital to a single-site operation.
It currently has two campuses — one on either side of the border — but its clinical services plan, released on Wednesday, identified the need to establish a single regional hospital in the area.
David Clancy, the medical director of emergency and critical care, said from a safety perspective, the single site was what clinicians believed was most effective.
"We've come to the critical point where we are now dealing with two small outdated sub-regional-sized hospitals where the demand on our services is far exceeding that," he said.
"Because we're running two services merely seven kilometres apart, we are duplicating some resources but isolating others, and that creates a risk and a challenge for our patients and our community."
Under the current layout, obstetrics and natal services are isolated from where pediatricians have their pediatric patients.
Both campuses have an emergency department, but depending on what treatment a patient needs, they too could be separated from that service.
"From an intensive care perspective, we're located on the Albury campus but need to be able to attend to patients that can deteriorate at any time without warning in Wodonga," Dr Clancy said.
"That creates a large strain on that resource and difficulty knowing when to go or when to stay.
"It's not just one department. It is at all levels that we feel this, even from the sub-acute services."
Planning for future growth
Albury Wodonga Health's catchment population is growing and ageing, and has a high incidence of chronic disease.
Chief executive Michael Kalimnios said the plan identified the demand for services would double over the next 20 years.
"It really does reflect the growing demand in our catchment area and the need for Albury Wodonga Health to step up and provide those services."
While the decision was not made as a result of border closures, Mr Kalimnios said it highlighted the challenges the hospital faced with separate campuses.
"It's a very exciting process that we're now on," he said.
"[We have] a clear vision and clear understanding of what services we need to deliver, and now we're able to plan and lobby and talk to government about the funding required to deliver on that vision."
20-year plan
It is not known whether the hospital will be a greenfield or brownfield site and on what side of the border it might be developed — Dr Clancy said it should not matter.
"When we look at what we develop, it has longevity, it is contemporary and we're not robbing services of one side of the river or the other.
"[That] we're actually enhancing it and making it better, making it safer but also increasing the complexity of the care that we deliver."
Mr Kalimnios agreed and said a master plan would be released in September, providing more clarity on the infrastructure needs as well as an estimated cost of the project.
While it is a 20-year plan, the hope is to start the project as soon as possible.
"In the next 20 years we actually need to have [the issues] solved and be working from a single site," Mr Kalimnios said.
