Murrumbidgee Local Health District chief executive Jill Ludford has reassured the community that 24-hour emergency care is provided at Cootamundra Hospital.

Ms Ludford said people entering after 6pm need to use the handset at the front door to call staff and advise of their arrival.

It comes after NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Brett Holmes raised concerns about staff shortages at the hospital, which he said meant the new part of the emergency department had to close at night.

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The head of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District has moved to assure residents the organisation is working hard to fix staffing issues at the region's hospitals.

MLHD chief executive Jill Ludford said health authorities were in the early stages of negotiating with doctors on a new rostering model for the region's district hospitals, to reduce the number of emergency patients who are transferred to Wagga Base.

It comes after the state member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke, who said she was "deeply concerned" about the shortage of doctors at Cootamundra Hospital, raised the issue with the MLHD.

Ms Ludford said the coronavirus pandemic had made it very difficult to recruit nurses and to attract agency staff to fill roster gaps.

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Ms Cooke believes staffing issues are having a "flow-on effect" on the wellbeing of nurses and the wider community, but said she was confident the MLHD and local doctors would be able to find a solution.

"I have met with doctors, paramedics and nurses. I have relayed my concerns to the MLHD that I expect staff will be supported, listened to and their voices heard," she said.

The Daily Advertiser contacted Cootamundra Medical Centre for comment.

Cootamundra Hospital's brand new emergency department opened last year after a $461,500 renovation, but the head of the nurses' union says it is so understaffed it closes at 6pm.

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary Brett Holmes also raised concerns about staffing in Batlow and Tumbarumba, where he claimed the MLHD was "relying on the goodwill" of registered nurses to do unofficial emergency overtime.

"There's an ongoing assumption made ... that these small communities don't have enough emergencies to justify the appropriate level of staffing to be available all the time," he said.

"The nurses and midwives will always try and do their very best to look after people. But they're being put in an impossible position to be able to deliver the care that patients need."

Mr Holmes said improvements made at smaller hospitals would free up valuable resources at Wagga Base for more complex cases.

Tumut Paramedic John Larter said while the community should have confidence in nurses, they are often placed under "a great deal of stress" by having to work without a doctor.

"When you've got a fully functioning team at places like Tumut, when you've got an experienced doctor and experienced nursing staff, you end up making good decisions," he said.

"When you don't, you end up transferring the bulk of people [to Wagga] because you can't rule out something more serious happening."