Mur'bah Children’s ward gets a reprieve for talks
THE closure of Murwillumbah Hospital's children's ward is off the table for the time being following a meeting on Wednesday between local doctors and health bureaucrats.
Instead, the Northern NSW Local Health District Board (LHDB) and local medicos have resolved to conduct further discussions and community consultation over the future of the ward.
LHDB chair Dr Brian Pezzutti said the board had requested that further consultation be undertaken to review the paediatrics model of care at the facility.
He said two local board members, David Frazer and Mark Humphries, would spearhead this process, which would involve meeting with the hospital's clinicians and the community.
It's a back-flip from the NRAHS previous statement that they would be making a decision on the ward's future within weeks after giving locals a fortnight to respond to a position paper on its possible closure.
Nationals' MP Thomas George pledged to lobby the State Health Minister to keep the ward open.
