Gail Roberts has lived in Laverton, 950 kilometres north east of Perth, for most of her life.
Like most of the town's long-term residents, she has welcomed news the state government is moving ahead with a redevelopment of the town's ageing hospital.
But having seen her husband Brian die from a stroke in Perth, she is concerned the change won't deliver a decent standard of healthcare to the remote town.
Ms Roberts said her husband was taken by ambulance to the hospital with a suspected bleed on the brain three years ago.
Due to limited services he was diagnosed via teleconference by a doctor in Perth, before he waited more than five hours to be flown to St Charles Gairdner Hospital.
The stroke left Mr Roberts in Perth, paralysed and wheelchair bound, where he died before he could return home to Laverton.
Ms Roberts said referrals to Perth or the Kalgoorlie Health Campus, 350 kilometres away, were common for residents.
"A lot of the things, they can't treat you for here," she said.
"If it's serious enough, you're flown out, but otherwise people have to drive themselves to Kalgoorlie."
Long waits
A Western Australian Country Health Service (WACHS) nurse, who worked at the hospital, said some patients could wait hours to be transferred to a larger hospital.
"Sometimes you can wait two hours for a flight, sometimes you've got to wait 10 hours," they said.
The nurse, who did not want to be identified, said patients requiring common procedures were being sent to Kalgoorlie, with the hospital struggling to retain qualified staff to operate the services it offered.
"There's no ultrasound, so for some abdominal things, they have to get flown down to Kalgoorlie just for an ultrasound," they said.
"With X-rays, there's only a certain number of nurses who have the skills to take an X-ray and if that nurse is not in town then we can't X-ray."
WACHS regional director for Goldfields, Peter Tredinnick, said a review of recent patient transfer data form Laverton showed there had been no significant transfer delays for patients.
"Patients are only transferred when clinically necessary, to ensure they can receive the very best specialist care," he said.
Demand on the hospital is expected to rise with Outback Way — the dirt road connecting Laverton to Winton in Queensland — to be sealed in the coming years, and increased mining activity in the region to bring thousands of workers through the town.
Shire president Pat Hill said the upgrades needed to be prioritised over less "critical" metropolitan projects.
"There are constraints, but I'd sooner see an art centre held up and the hospital put first," he said.
"If there are other metropolitan facilities that can wait, let them wait and let our hospital get built … we've waited long enough for it and that's a long time."
No answer on increased services
The new hospital will include an ambulatory care wing for population health, child health, visiting mental health services and visiting allied health services.
A government spokesperson said planned works would optimise emergency care facilities and include new beds, resuscitation bays and acute treatment rooms.
However, the government did not respond when asked if the new hospital would have increased staffing in Laverton or reduce the need for patients to travel to Perth or Kalgoorlie.
Australian Medical Association WA president Mark Duncan-Smith said while the proposed hospital would address areas of need in the community, more work was needed.
"I've been advised that the primary care needs to be expanded, the emergency needs to be expanded, and they need more beds, and an area to coordinate general health care and health care professionals," Dr Smith said.
"It sounds like it's [WA Country Health Service] going a long way to achieving those goals, but of course, the devil will be in the details.
"I would urge the services to consult with health care professionals out there to further delineate exactly what is needed for the area."
Ms Roberts said the staff did an "amazing job" under tough conditions, but said her husband's condition could have been treated sooner if the facilities were better.
"At the end of the day, there's nothing you can do, what has happened has happened," she said.
"But maybe he would be alive."
