Labor says it will provide a Medicare licence for the MRI machine at the new Maitland Hospital.
The $470 million hospital has a magnetic resonance imaging unit, but the medical scans it provides are not covered by Medicare rebates.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese campaigned in the Hunter on Thursday, announcing Cessnock Hospital will host an urgent care clinic under Labor's plan to roll out 50 such centres across Australia over the next four years if it wins government.
Mr Albanese said in a media statement that Maitland was one of the fastest-growing areas in NSW and deserved to have the best medical services.
"A Medicare-funded MRI licence at the new Maitland Hospital means locals can get the health care they need and deserve," he said.
The town has a Medicare-funded MRI machine at Maitland Private Hospital and another at PRP Diagnostic which receives partial Medicare rebates.
Paterson MP Meryl Swanson said the Liberals had "failed to deliver" on the Medicare licence despite months of lobbying.
Inpatients and emergency patients have access to free MRI testing at the hospital, but external doctors cannot refer patients for tests.
Paterson Liberal candidate Brooke Vitnell told the Maitland Mercury this week that she had written to Health Minister Greg Hunt, who is retiring at the election, about the MRI licence.
Hunter New England Health applied unsuccessfully for a full MRI Medicare licence at Maitland when the government last called for applications in 2018.
Mr Albanese spoke with nurses outside Cessnock Hospital about Labor's plan to set up bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinics.
Community health nurse Lorna Scott told the Opposition leader that the district's "dramatic increase in population" had occurred without an increase in staff.
"Working in women's health, if you're over in Maitland, my next appointment's July 2, which is absolutely dreadful," she said.
Ms Scott said her clients often struggled to see a general practitioner.
"They're often waiting at ED for hours and often give up and go home and think, 'Is this problem going to go away', but it doesn't.
"The number of aged care patients who end up in ED who can't get seen because they don't have any registered nurses in aged care."
She said Labor's plan to force aged care homes to have a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day was a "fantastic proposition", though Labor has since clarified that providers will be given "flexibility" if they cannot find a nurse due to worker shortages.
The Newcastle Herald has reported this week about staff shortages at Maitland and John Hunter Hospital and the strain on paramedics and nurses.
The Australian Private Hospitals Association said on Wednesday that it was "pointless" either party announcing new health policies without addressing chronic worker shortages.
"The extent of the shortage is huge and so far neither major party has put forward a clear plan to fix it," APHA chief Michael Roff said.
The Australian Medical Association and some other health organisations have said the urgent care clinics will do little to address systemic problems in hospitals.
