Tumut’s new and improved ambulance station opened its doors on Friday (16 June) after almost five years of planning and construction. Photo: Franklin Public School Tumut Facebook.
After almost five years of planning, the new Tumut Ambulance Station was unveiled on Friday morning (June 16).
Announced in 2018, the plans for the station have now been completed, with State Member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr claiming it as a win for the Tumut community.
“It’s great to see the Tumut Health Precinct being completely redeveloped,” Dr McGirr said.
“When I was elected, I made it a priority to take this to the health minister, and to the health minister’s credit at that time, he came and visited Tumut and saw the state of the ambulance, which had been rated as moderate. But as one adviser said to me, ‘Boy, if that’s moderate I’d hate to see what bad was.’ It was a shocker.”
The state of the previous station had been brought into question for the better part of a decade.
“When I did a tour of it, I’d have to say it was really at a point where I’m not actually sure it was livable,” Dr McGirr said.
“It really wasn’t good enough and it’s been addressed. Today is a good day for the people of Tumut and for the Snowy Valleys to have this new facility.”
Dr McGirr thanked the ambulance personnel and paramedics of the Tumut Hospital, appreciating their patience in waiting for the new facility.
“The good news is now we have a modern, state-of-the-art ambulance facility. It’s got great accommodations for the officers operating there. It’s much larger and it’s connected to the hospital,” he said.
“I did have the opportunity of touring the ambulance station before this official opening, at the time of the opening of the hospital, and I have to say I was very impressed with the work.
“I want to say thank you once again to all of our health staff, but especially on this occasion to our paramedical staff, who do so much in that pre-hospital space.”
Dr McGirr praised previous NSW regional health minister Bronnie Taylor and current Health Minister Ryan Park for their commitment to the project.
“Having an ambulance station like this means that we’ve got the capacity to have a 24-hour service. We have a facility that will attract our staff and will promote the health outlook of the region,” he said.
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