Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy says he will stop the "bickering" over a new hospital for the NSW-Victorian border cities of Albury and Wodonga, by committing $300 million to build a new facility if he is elected premier in November.
Healthcare workers and communities on both sides of the Murray River have been calling for the NSW, Victorian and federal governments to build a new hospital on a single site. Currently, services are split across two sites.
Mr Guy said his visit to the region in April, when people kept telling him they " just need a better quality of healthcare on the border", influenced the decision to fund a new hospital.
"With populations growing and decentralisation taking off we must invest in this facility," he said today.
It is expected the NSW and federal governments will commit funding to the new hospital on an equal one-third share basis, and Mr Guy is confident they will come to an agreement.
"One thing I do want to do is not fight with other governments, I don't care what other governments' political colour is, I think we just need this outcome," Mr Guy said.
The announcement has been welcomed by medical professionals who have been campaigning for a new hospital for some time.
Intensive care specialist David Clancy is deputy chair of the Border Medical Association, which is an organisation of medical practitioners in the region.
He said while the announcement by the Victorian opposition was a good start there was still a long way to go.
"It is the first party that has committed funding," Dr Clancy said.
"The reality is, though, we need a bipartisan approach to this. We can't assume that one party or the other is going to be forming government.
Guy backs cross-border health model
Last week, federal Member for Farrer Sussan Ley suggested NSW separate from Victoria's healthcare system in Albury and build its own hospital amid frustration over redevelopment delays.
Mr Guy said he did not want to see the system separated and believed the current funding arrangement could work.
"I think we've got Albury and Wodonga who need each other more than they need Sydney or Melbourne," Mr Guy said.
He said a new site central to Wodonga and Albury would need to be found, and he believed that could be achieved.
Dr Clancy said it did not matter what side of the river the new hospital would be built on, with many residents already travelling hours for health care in Melbourne, Wagga Wagga or Wangaratta because they could not access the care they needed on the border.
