There were a number of key moments in Mark McGowan's snap press conference this week when he battled scrutiny of his decision to indefinitely extend Western Australia's hard border.
But for regional residents, particularly those in the Kimberley, one moment stood out.
Questioned over the readiness of WA's hospitals after a single COVID-positive man sent 12 staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital into isolation, the Premier insisted that the health system would be able to cope with some rescheduling of elective surgery and some additional resourcing.
"We have no-one in hospital with COVID at this time, and we'll work out the arrangements for those things in the coming weeks," he said on Thursday, adding the following day that "our hospitals are as ready as they can be".
It was a jarring statement for some in the state's north where, over the past year, in the absence of any spread of coronavirus, the government and the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) have struggled to staff their facilities and maintain appropriate services.
With the remotest hospitals and most vulnerable population in the state, and all of the challenges that entails, WACHS remains heavily reliant on locum medical staff to service its Kimberley facilities, the costs of which are skyrocketing.
Fortress WA keeping staff and COVID out
It meant as WA's hard border kept the coronavirus out, it also stopped staff from coming in and affected the ability to replace staff leaving the Kimberley due to concerns over stress, work practices, and personal security.
Just how dire things were started to become apparent midway through last year when a string of nurses abruptly quit Wyndham Hospital after multiple break-ins and problems with threatening behaviour.
WACHS insisted all was well, and that operations at the hospital — WA's northernmost major health facility — were not impacted, publicly stating that all of its Kimberley sites were staffed at safe and appropriate levels.
But a local nurse blew the whistle, revealing she was being asked to work a 112-hour roster across a single fortnight, and that the nine nurses needed to staff the hospital safely had fallen to just three.
Hours after the ABC published that story, WACHS announced it would be slashing operating hours at Wyndham, with the hospital now operating between 7:30am and 7:30pm, with an on-call service outside those hours.
While an additional three nurses have since been recruited, the cut to operating hours, described as a temporary measure, remains in place.
Other services, hospitals red-flagged
WACHS chief executive Jeffrey Moffet went a step further a day later, saying the service would not hesitate to cut operating hours and services at regional hospitals across the state if required.
Staff levels at Derby, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing were being monitored week-to-week, with the ability of doctors, nurses and allied health workers to safely deliver services front of mind.
However, the ABC sighted internal emails calling for urgent redeployment of staff, including midwives to the Pilbara and nurses to Wyndham and Fitzroy Crossing, to avoid what health staff described as an "imminent service failure".
WACHS played down the leaks in both cases, as they did again this week, when The Australian reported a critical shortage of medical supplies at Broome Hospital.
"WACHS actively managed a temporary stock shortage at our supply warehouse in the Kimberley.
"This did not have a flow-on effect to hospitals and was caused by third-party courier disruptions being felt right across the country as a result of the pandemic."
Limited response from ministers
It's a cliche of regional reporting to suggest your patch has been forgotten about but the WA government's response on these issues has been muted.
Prior to this week's decision to extend the hard border indefinitely, Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson declined an interview on the overall readiness of Kimberley hospitals, with a spokesperson suggesting the minister was "too busy".
But she pointed to the recruitment of 480 doctors across the system and 130 approvals for interstate medical staff as a direct response to issues across regional hospitals.
Pressed on the issues at Wyndham during a parliamentary sitting last year, her predecessor Roger Cook also declined to specifically address the problems in the Kimberley.
"It is true that in the WACHS we obviously have extra challenges for people working in some of these harder-to-travel-to areas and more isolated areas," Mr Cook said.
Burnout risk for doctors and nurses
The burden itself continues to fall on the workforce and, even without COVID, the government's lack of action remains a huge concern.
Rural Doctors Association of WA president Brittney Wicksteed, herself a Kimberley-based physician, said it was disappointing the government hadn't offered a more concrete plan.
"I think there are probably areas of staff that do feel burned out," Dr Wicksteed said.
"And it's not just necessarily the workload, it's the inability to go and see family … having leave requests cancelled because of the current staff shortages."
She said a solution would take a concrete effort from the government.
"I think they really need to engage with people working on the ground, who know exactly what the hospitals need."
Whether the government will follow through on those concerns remains to be seen.
