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The campaigners would like to see the services instead offered out of Griffith Base Hospital, reducing "stressful and unnecessary" travel time for residents in need of treatment.
The Murrumbidgee Local Health District has advised that the major upgrades currently underway at the hospital are set to provide for these services, but these works are not expected to conclude until 2025.
Between July 2015 and May 2020 there was 1268 patient transfers for orthopaedics from Griffith to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. In the same period there was 882 transfers for mental health care.
Brendan Catanzariti, a long-term healthcare campaigner in Griffith, said these numbers are not surprising and they need to be addressed.
"People are being forced to travel for hours when they are unwell or injured and they are travelling a long way from their families and support networks," Mr Catanzariti said.
"The services and needs are totally incompatible at the moment and with a town of this size with a catchment area of more than 60,000 people, the services are just inadequate."
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Mr Catanzariti said offering the sevices would also be a huge benefit to residents in towns like Hay and Hillston, who currently travel hours for treatment in Griffith, only to be transferred again to Wagga.
"Breaking a leg or breaking a hip is traumatic enough without having to travel for hours just to get assessed," he said.
The number of transfers was also criticised by Member for Murray Helen Dalton who described it as "unacceptable".
"There would be hundreds, if not thousands more, who have been transferred to Sydney, Victoria or other hospitals," Mrs Dalton said.
"Griffith is supposed to have a regional base hospital yet it's turning people away due to lack of resources.
The MLHD has advised the $250 million redevelopment of the hospital includes the development of orthopaedic and mental health services.
"The redevelopment includes infrastructure to deliver orthopaedic services and to care for mental health consumers over 16 years," an MLHD spokesperson said.
This includes a new short stay unit for those with mental health issues, however it is expected those with acute needs would still need to be transferred to the specialist centre in Wagga.
The spokesperson also advised that the hospital is currently developing an Orthopaedic model of care, which includes "the recruitment of Orthopaedic surgeons" and the "provision of public orthopaedic clinics, inclusive of a fracture clinic".
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