THE Tweed Hospital could be grouped with Gold Coast hospitals under the Federal Government’s radical health reforms.

Health care organisations across Australia will be grouped into Local Hospital Networks (LHN) and Medicare Locals under the reforms.

A discussion paper has proposed linking The Tweed Hospital to a Gold Coast LHN, but Murwillumbah Hospital will be grouped with others in New South Wales.

Under the reform, the Federal Government will provide 60 per cent of health funding.

If The Tweed Hospital was part of a Gold Coast LHN, its funding would be distributed through Queensland.

The idea was welcomed at a community meeting about the proposal yesterday by Bob Reaburn, a director of the Tweed Valley General Practitioners Network director Bob Reaburn.

Tweed Nationals MP Geoff Provest offered cautious support for the proposal.

Mr Reaburn said Tweed Valley GPs had already been working closely with the Queensland system and the preference of the network was to join the Gold Coast.

“This is already happening from a medical point of view – 99 per cent of referrals go that way (to Queensland),” Mr Reaburn said.

Mr Provest supported the idea in principal, but said it would create a lot of issues and he needed “a lot more details” on the plan plus more community input.

He wanted to hear more on the plan from the community at a meeting yesterday, attended by the NSW Opposition’s Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health, Jenny Gardiner MLC, but there was a poor turnout.

The report identified Murwillumbah as a regional hospital and suggested it was better grouped with other North Coast hospitals but Mr Provest said it made more sense to keep it grouped with The Tweed Hospital.