Last week, the independent member for Wagga moved a notice of motion in the NSW Parliament about his call for a stand-alone Department of Rural Health.

Dr McGirr said such a department would "address the unique needs of health care in rural, remote and regional NSW".

Also included in his notice of motion was an acknowledgement of the "many submissions" made to the upper house rural health inquiry that "highlight the issues facing rural communities and accessing safe and appropriate healthcare".

It also included an acknowledgment of the appointment of a dedicated Minister for Regional Health, Bronnie Taylor.

Minister Taylor was in Wagga last week and said she was "happy to have those conversations".

However, she maintained the government was addressing rural healthcare needs through her appointment as the first minister for regional health.

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"I think that's a pretty clear line in the sand that we're saying we need to have a renewed focus on this; we need to look for different solutions," she said.

"I'm really happy to have those conversations, Dr Joe and I speak often, and I think that we need to look at all options on the table going forward."

When asked if a dedicated rural health department could help address workplace shortages across the sector, Minister Taylor said that anything that focuses on rural health was a positive.

When asked about the dedicated department, the chief executive of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, Jill Ludford, focused on the recent appointment of Minister Taylor.

"We're delighted to have our own lens on how we're going to do things differently to improve outcomes for people living in rural areas," Ms Ludford said of the state's first minister for regional health.

"I know Minister Taylor is currently working with the Ministry of Health to determine the governance arrangements so that in local health districts we can continue to have the support that we get from our metropolitan services, but also ensure that we have a governance arrangement where we can have that absolute lens and focus on the needs of rural and regional people."

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