Cobar Shire Council Mayor Jarrod Marsden welcomed NSW Regional Health Minister Ryan Park and State Member for Barwon Roy Butler to Cobar last Wednesday to discuss local health matters.
“It was clearly conveyed to the Minister that Cobar has its own unique challenges with regards to health and that we rarely benefit from the “one size fits all” approach,” Cr Marsden told The Cobar Weekly.
Minister Park was accompanied by Mr Butler on a tour of medical facilities in country NSW last week which included visits to Lightning Ridge, Brewarrina, Bourke and the Cobar Health Service.
“It wasn’t the Minister’s first time in Barwon,” Mr Butler said.
“He has been out west before, slowly making his way around to all of the 27 hospitals and MPSs in the electorate.”
Minister Park said it had been a privilege to visit the western area health services with Mr Butler to talk all things regional and rural healthcare with staff and locals.
“I’ve always said that if you want to address big health challenges, you need to meet with the communities who are experiencing them on the ground, and Roy Butler is such a fervent advocate for the area,” Minister Park said.
“Cobar has such a passionate, warm and tight knit community, that’s one of the main reasons I love visiting Western NSW.
“It’s important to me that regional and remote health isn’t lost within the larger system, because providing good healthcare can have a massive effect on the economic and professional viability of a community,” he said.
Mr Butler said the Minister was pleased to see the Mobile CT Scanner being used in Cobar as they had both been at the launch of this service in Walgett in May 2023...see this week’s edition for more of this article.
