The New South Wales and Victorian governments are working together to build a new emergency department and the first short stay unit at Albury Wodonga Health to meet the future health needs of the community.

NSW Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard, Victorian Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Jenny Mikakos and NSW Member for Albury Justin Clancy visited Albury Wodonga Health today to announce the almost $36 million redevelopment.

Mr Hazzard said the strong relationship between the NSW and Victorian governments will help ensure the Albury-Wodonga community receives world-class healthcare close to home.

“The NSW Liberal & Nationals Government has committed $30 million to expand Albury Wodonga Health’s emergency department from 16 to 42 treatment spaces to provide the community with high quality emergency care now and into the future,” Mr Hazzard said.

Ms Mikakos said the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority will work closely with NSW Health and NSW Health Infrastructure to successfully deliver the project.

“The Andrews Labor Government is providing almost $6 million to build a 16 bed short stay unit which will help reduce wait times in the emergency department, so local patients can get the very best care, sooner,” Ms Mikakos said.

Mr Clancy said the $36 million investment is welcome news for the local community.

“With one of the busiest emergency departments in regional Australia, this funding is crucial to enabling Albury Wodonga Health to meet demand,” Mr Clancy said.

Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said the redevelopment of the emergency department together with the short stay unit will ensure the region has access to critical health services.

“It will support almost 80,000 patients projected to go through the emergency department by 2031,” Ms Symes said.

The NSW Government has invested $10 billion on health infrastructure statewide since 2011, and is investing $10.1 billion more over the next four years, including more than $900 million for rural and regional areas in 2019-20.

The Victorian Government has committed $7 billion on health infrastructure since 2015, delivering the largest health building program in the state’s history.

The project will begin this year and is expected to be completed by 2022.