The only way this community is going to get this job done is to show solidarity. 1400 people turning up on Saturday is not going to do it. Granted Saturday’s effort may have been only a start but these visitors on Thursday need to see more people than that standing in solidarity and committed to the long haul. This battle is not going to be won in a day.

Brad Stinson, Griffith.

I was very happy to see the photo of my friend  Dr John Bix on the editorial page of the Area News dated 14 August 2017 Dr John Bix is my sincere  friend When ever he meets me he praises my letters to the editor of the Area  News Once he said to me " You know more history than I am " I politely replied  "  Sir you are  a great surgeon who served in the Griffith Base Hospital for 35 years I am only a humble teacher " On the day of the rally I sat on the ground just near his chair He said to me " 

Dr Jaya is from India He belongs to Kerala the southernmost province of India while I belong to the Punjab-north -western part of India Kerala  has  the highest literacy rate in  India  I was surprised that Dr Jaya and his wife speak Panjabi my mother tongue fluently The reason is that they  have served for a long time in the Miss Brown ( Christian ) hospital Ludhiana -a city  just 15 miles from my home town Goraya Miss  Brown  Hospital is  the most famous hospital in the Panjab When you enter the hospital you see these words of Jesus written on the gate of the hospital " O tired people of the world Come to me I will give you peace  and prosperity "

We met  Dr Maxwell Hopp  long time ago  when I and my wife Surinder took our grandchildren Ashmeen and Allina to  him  Seeing us he asked us proudly " You are the the grand parents of these kids? " When we replied  yes he said " I am very happy that a couple of grand parents have come with  their grand children to me "

Griffith is really proud of these three doctors.

Amar Jit Singh, Griffith.

The members of Griffith U3A are deeply concerned about the on-going reduction of services available to the general public from the Griffith Base Hospital.

We strongly protest that the Murrumbidgee Local Health District Advisory Committee is, over the years, diminishing medical facilities from Griffith. Griffith U3A Inc is part of worldwide organisation that promotes education, good health, social activities and cultural interchange for retired people.

It has a local membership of over eighty people, many of whom often need hospital attention. Our strong objection to the decline of the Griffith Base Hospital is based on the following:

Serviced area - Griffith Base Hospital (GBH) services over 80,000 people, in a radius of 150K. People in isolated towns from Hay to Hillston to West Wyalong have no local access to medical services that are provided by a base hospital such as Griffith.

It is imperative that the people who live in this large inland region continue to have access to full base hospital standards. Medical risk - Medical practitioners regularly need pathology results urgently. Any delay in receiving results can subject patients to an unnecessary and dangerous risk to their wellbeing.

Further decreases of essential medical services (eg removal of histology from the pathology department) will lead to the de-accreditation of the hospital. This means Griffith could lose its status as a base hospital.

Decline in hospital medical services - Since the termination of the Griffith Hospital Board and the formation of a large medical region managed by an Advisory Committee, Griffith Base Hospital has had a continual reduction of medical facilities:

Blood bank removed from GBH, Sterilising service removed from GBH, Some radiology services no longer available at GBH, Closure of profitable locally managed hospital facilities as follows – Laundry (was profitable for GBH), Mechanical service (was profitable, serviced vehicles and ambulances), Vehicle ownership (was profitable, now vehicles are leased).

Lack of community consultation - The arbitrary decision, proposed by MLHD was made without any consultation between community, medical practitioners or staff despite the website's claim to "Facilitate communication between consumers, carers and community groups and the Health Service" unquote.

Sydney Metropolitan residents have a comparative medical choices. Country people do not. This indicates government's continuing indifference to lesser numbers of voters in rural areas.

Members of Griffith U3A Inc are incensed at the continuing reduction of services from Griffith Base Hospital. The decision has been made without consultation, without transparency and without consideration of the future of Griffith and its rapidly increasing population growth.

Griffith U3A Inc.