Catherine Pierce has drafted a petition to return the hospital to its the original title after confusion left her stranded in an elevator. 

Mrs Pierce was visiting her sick husband during a freak storm in February when the hospital elevator she was travelling in stalled. Mrs Pierce called for support and told the operator she was located in the Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital – a name the operator could not find. 

“They didn’t know where I was,” Mrs Pierce said. “That’s when I started to panic.”

When she suggested Wagga Base hospital as an alternative, the operator immediately knew where Mrs Pierce was located. 

“It was because of my ordeal that I thought, ‘this is ridiculous’,” Mrs Pierce said. “If people can’t understand the name over the phone, it’s pretty bad.”

The petition, written with the assistance of MP Daryl Maguire’s office, asks the original Wagga Base Hospital title be returned and the words “rural referral” be placed underneath. 

More than 100 of a required 10,000 residents have already signed the campaign that Mrs Pierce hopes will be presented to parliament. 

She said when the hospital was renamed in September 2015, it faced a onslaught of community backlash.

“But it still went ahead anyway,” she said. “It’s stupid, it’s just stupid.”

The 71-year-old was told the majority of social media response to her plight was “dead against” the new name and she said no one even used the new title. 

“I think Jillian Skinner was the one who approved it,” Mrs Pierce said. “She’s as useful as a sun bank on a submarine.” 

Murrumbidgee Local Health District chief executive Jill Ludford said Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital was named as part of the redevelopment. 

She said the name change was in line with other hospitals across the state and followed community and staff consultation.

“The revised name reflects the role the new hospital plays,” Ms Ludford said. “(It) works in collaboration with local hospitals … patients are referred to the Wagga facility … and return to their local community.”