Light at end of recruitment tunnel for Riverina health facilities

Coolamon Shire Council mayor David McCann, general manager Tony Donoghue and MLHD Narrandera MPS cluster manager Dean Marchioni represented regional Riverina communities on the third day of the Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding hearings at Wagga Courthouse.

Cr McCann and Mr Donoghue highlighted challenges and some positive developments as they detailed the council's management of multiple health-related facilities in the town including the Allawah Lodge aged care home, a community care centre and the Allawah Retirement Village.

The inquiry heard major progress has been made in recent months with the 33-bed Allawah Lodge recruiting 11 overseas workers as staff for the facility through the Phillippine-based agency Groworx.

This has enabled the town's aged care centre to reopen 11 beds which were forced to close due to a lack of staff during COVID.

The town is set to welcome a further four people by June 30.

Mr Donoghue said while the council has forked out $250,000 to the workers as nurses, they believe it's worth the cost and sees hope ahead.

"I see the light getting bigger at the horizon," he said.

But it is not all hunky dory for communities in the Coolamon Shire with Mr Donoghue noting it remains "a challenge" getting new nurses to Allawah Lodge.

He said a particular hurdle has been the $20,000 incentive the state government offers to attract new nurses to the regions, because the council doesn't have access to the incentive and is thus forced to compete against it.

"We could offer it [also], but it would run us broke," Mr Donoghue said.

Cr McCann stressed that while many think about council's role as roads, rates and rubbish, regional and rural councils manage much more than this - including healthcare facilities.

He argued it is "very easy" to say the delivery of health services is being provided by NSW Health in regional NSW and that there is a general lack of understanding of the role that councils play in delivering those services outside the bigger cities.

Cr McCann also argued it was "not cost effective" for a private provider to come into Coolamon and take over the Allawah Lodge.

He said if the council stopped providing that facility, the only place residents could go would be into public hospitals, and warned this would "block up the system."

"It's also crucial for us to allow people to live the rest of their lives gracefully in the community into which they have poured their blood, sweat and tears," he said.

Meanwhile, the MLHD's Narrandera MPS facilities cluster manager Dean Marchioni also outlined positive recruitment news after the challenges of COVID.

Mr Marchioni manages five hospitals including those at Leeton, Narrandera, Lake Cargelligo, Hillston and Lockhart.

He said recruitment challenges tend to be an issue particularly at the Leeton, Narrandera and Lake Cargelligo hospitals.

When pressed on what the reason for these challenges was, Mr Marchioni said the skillset required for people to be in charge of a hospital was "substantial".

"[Recruits] need a great deal of experience in the leadership space to be able to handle anything that can happen at any time," he said.

"Those people aren't easy to find."

Mr Marchioni said virtual nurse assistants were also not preferred over in person treatment.

Reflecting on experience during COVID, he said staffing availability dropped off, as the hospitals were reliant on agency staff prior to the pandemic, but that crisis saw these agency workers returned to the UK, NZ and other countries.

He said this loss of agency staff combined with extra requirements to wear masks and gowns, creating "more stress" and making life "very difficult" for those left running the hospitals.

Now, some four years after COVID, Mr Marchioni said staff recruitment is looking much better with three nurses taking up positions at Lake Cargelligo MPS in the past six months through the regional workforce incentive program.

There have been further staff recruited at Lockhart and Hillston in this time.

Mr Marchioni also expressed optimism at successful efforts by the MLHD who sent staff over to recruit workers from Ireland.

"I believe we've attracted over 120 people... [with] 80 on board and coming," he said.

Mr Marchioni said of these, one has travelled to Lockhart and three to Leeton.

"It's exciting," he said.