Griffith Base Hospital recently underwent a full $250 million redevelopment that finished in June 2025. For now, local doctors and concerned citizens are putting more and more pressure on the local hospital. Despite the recent upgrades, including the introduction of aged care, rehabilitation beds, and an expanded scope for surgical procedures, key stakeholders believe the hospital must do more to meet the needs of Griffith’s growing population. Drs. Howard Fan and Narayanan Jayachandran, two other powerful leaders in the local medical community, have voiced their concerns. They underscore how service shortages have left patients requiring care traveling out as far as Wagga Wagga.
Griffith’s population has been growing rapidly from 23,000 in 2001 to 27,000 in 2021. This has led to an unprecedented increased demand on healthcare services. Dr. Fan has emphasized the urgent need for reform, stating that the hospital’s current limitations have led to a reliance on external facilities for critical care. Our local businesses began to circulate a petition. Their aim is to improve nurse patient ratios at Griffith Base Hospital. Once parliament receives 10,000 signatures, consideration by Parliament is required.
Concerns Over Service Shortages
Dr. Fan illustrated the impact of service shortages on patient outcomes. He noted that for most of the residents, it would require a long drive to get the treatment they needed. He has made no secret of his frustration that the really big cases were being sent to Sydney. Complex traumas and specialized surgeries are being turned away because Griffith Base Hospital doesn’t have the capacity.
“If we can split from Wagga, potentially we will be able to take on all these patients who are currently going much further to get treatment,” – Dr. Howard Fan.
The hospital underwent redevelopment in recent years to expand and diversify its spectrum of service. Yet other wards are closed, leaving local healthcare workers frustrated. Dr. Jayachandran expressed concerns over the lack of rehabilitation services and aged care facilities in regard to learnings from COVID-19 located at Griffith. He stated, “We desperately need to have rehab services and aged care services in Griffith on a much bigger scale.”
Local healthcare providers are adamant that the current approach is not working. They believe it’s not keeping up with the community’s increasing demand. Dr. Jayachandran lamented the ongoing challenges, saying, “This has been going on for so many years … [that] none of our senior staff can take it anymore.”
Impact on Patients
The lack of services at Griffith Base Hospital isn’t only a logistical burden it is a matter of life and death for patients. Local resident Ugo Fattore, who has been fighting leukaemia for more than 20 years, recounted his journey through the health care maze. He highlighted the challenges of patients having to drive long distances to access care.
“One day I’m in Sydney, another day I’m in Wagga, couple of days in Griffith,” – Ugo Fattore.
Fattore finds himself in and out of hospitals due to his condition. This experience reiterated for me the need for holistic, wrap-around care in the community. His experiences resonate with others like Karen French and many residents who find themselves needing to travel far for basic medical treatments.
“People with broken bones, they got to keep sending them back over to Wagga to get repaired and plastered … that should be all done here,” Fattore added, underlining the frustration felt by patients who believe that essential services should be available locally.
Future Directions for Griffith Base Hospital
The NSW Government’s proposed creation of a new Western Riverina Health District could include communities like Griffith, Deniliquin and Hay. Dr. Fan has proposed that this proposed reorganization improve staffing solutions, more specifically catered towards the needs of all region’s diverse communities. “Our aim is to be able to recruit staff for our region using our own funding rather than to rely on the entire health network to allocate us staffing,” he explained.
Some have argued that breaking away from Wagga may not be the ideal answer. Some officials warn that it may only duplicate existing services while stretching resources and capacity without addressing critical recruitment challenges. The Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) maintains that current arrangements allow staffing and community-based services to be networked and shared across the district.
As debates around these issues continue, local stakeholders are focused on ensuring that Griffith Base Hospital can provide adequate care for its residents. And DC healthcare professionals and the community are on the front lines, demanding that change. Our petition for improved staff-to-resident ratios at least recognizes this dire need.
