By Philippe Perez,Sarah Krieg

Copyright abc

A major cancer care centre on the Victorian-New South Wales border will become a fully public hospital in a move that has caught a healthcare provider by surprise and sparked community concern.

The Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre has been run by Albury Wodonga Health and Ramsay Health Care since 2016 and delivers inpatient and day oncology services for public and private patients across a catchment area of more than 250,000 people.

The centre has 30 beds, a 28-chair day chemotherapy ward and three radiotherapy bunkers.

Albury Wodonga Health said the decision to make the centre fully public followed a ‘comprehensive external review’ in 2022.

Chief operating officer Linda Hudec said there would not be any changes to services and that no jobs would be lost.

“Our expectation is we’ll continue to grow and develop those services … and look at bringing on board more specialty services and more education,” she said.

“We have a joint clinician and executive steering committee that’s working through what that transition will look like.”

But a leaked email from Ramsay Health Care Albury Wodonga Private Hospital chief executive Paul Boje states that the announcement took him by surprise.

In a statement, Ramsay Health Care told the ABC that no formal transition plan had been confirmed.

“However, we are committed to working with Albury Wodonga Health to ensure a smooth and well-coordinated transition focusing on continuity of care for patients and supporting our employees,” a spokesperson said.

Quality of care concerns

According to the Cancer Council, the Hume region, which is serviced by the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre, was the only area in regional Victoria as of 2021 that had similar five-year survival rates to metropolitan areas.

From 2016 to 2020, 72 per cent of patients with a malignant tumour survived for five years after diagnosis in Greater Melbourne.

In the Hume region the five-year survival rate was 70 per cent.

A Hume Regional Integrated Cancer Service report attributed the high survival rate to the quality and accessibility of care.

Albury Mayor Kevin Mack said locals deserved an assurance that cancer services in the region would remain strong.

“I would only hope that the quality of care does not change and I don’t believe it will,” he said.

Cr Mack said there were some concerns beds in the cancer centre would be taken up by other patients.

“I hope that doesn’t happen … because if they are, there’ll be an absolute riot,” he said.

Ms Hudec said the services would “continue uninterrupted as part of our ongoing public-private arrangement”.

Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the change to a public operating model would strengthen care and ensure services were “accessible and sustainable for the future”.

Albury MP Justin Clancy said he would hold governments to account on those claims.

“They need to demonstrate that this is a positive step forward for community,” he said.

“It’s played a vital role in the border region over the past 10 years.