A founder of an Orange health committee is calling for regional and remote areas to be considered differently when it comes to funding and provisions following the recent release of health inquiry findings.
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Former Orange mayor Reg Kidd was instrumental in setting up the Orange Health Liaison Community Committee and was involved in the group at the time of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into regional and rural health.
Following the release of the inquiry's findings last week, Mr Kidd said there was a vast difference between regional health and rural health.
- READ MORE: NSW regional health inquiry urges review
"We need to understand what we talk about when we talk about rural health," he said.
"Regional health is quite different to rural and remote health services."
He said many regional services, such as those in Orange are "quite good" to the point that many people from rural and remote communities depend on Orange services.
Regional health is quite different to rural and remote health services.
- Reg Kidd
Orange mayor Jason Hamling agreed saying services such as Ronald McDonald House and Western Care Lodge primarily support people from rural and remote communities.
Both Mr Kidd and Cr Hamling supported the release of the findings.
"This review has been good," Mr Kidd said.
"Obviously there's been quite a bit of input put into it."
Mr Kidd also supported a recent announcement for the establishment of a regional health advisory group and said the people living in the affected communities would best know their own situations.
"I think the one thing with COVID, it probably showed where there's some improvements that can be made," he said.
Cr Hamling said some of the recommendations talked about collaborations between state and federal government. "I hope the government responds to most of these recommendations [in the report]," he said.
He also hoped students from the CSU medical school would take up jobs in the areas in need of health services.
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