“I think this is a wonderful thing to have happened,” Surf Beach GP James Langley said.

“There will have to be consideration given to how we are going to transport people without cars to the green-site facility.

“Hospital-run transportation would be a relatively small cost in comparison to running a regional hospital.”

Batemans Bay GP and Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) Andrew Gibson agreed transport to the hospital was an issue that needed to be addressed and said, to get the best outcome for shire residents, a private facility should be included on site.

“The issue is where it’s going to be, and that’s where the squabble is going to be,” Dr Gibson said.

“That has to be decided by independent experts so there’s no bias. And it’s important to co-locate a private hospital to attract specialists to the area. A private facility removes bureaucracy from the practise of medicine.”

Dr Gibson said a private facility would attract more specialists to the area, which would take pressure off GPs.

 “A lot of GPs are frightened to practise in an area where there aren’t a lot of specialists,” he said.

“They have to do things that are difficult that they don’t have specialist training in – so attracting more specialists will bring more GPs.”