We have many wonderful medical and nursing staff in our hospitals and clinics – but they have been forced to swim upstream, compared to their peers in the city.

For too long, staff and residents have put up with “country cousin” resources and equipment.

We have had to wait to see specialists on the one day per month they might fly in to see patients.

We have had to wait to have our children diagnosed with developmental conditions such as autism.

We have had to travel hours out of the area for orthopaedic surgery and more.

We have to drive and pay for accommodation to see our children or our ageing parents when they have not been able to get the emergency care or surgery they have needed in our own shire.

The advent of oncology and rehabilitation services at Moruya District Hospital in recent years has been life changing.

We can look forward to more when our regional hospital finally opens down the track.

We hope such a hospital will attract specialists to live in our shire and provide sustained care for our community.

We thank the community campaigners who have made a noise about this issue for some 20 years now – and those who have shouted loudly in recent weeks.

Now, the tough questions must be asked – and answered – about where such a hospital should be placed.

This is not a simple question and it won’t have a ready answer.

We must carefully consider the needs of the entire shire, including those living in aged care facilities.

We must consider future population growth – and the best available land for a hospital that can satisfy that growth.

We must consider our lack of public transport and the dispersed nature of our population.

Wherever the new hospital goes, some of us will have to travel – so let’s insist the people who most need services can reach them – or be reached.

We look forward to hearing what a dispassionate team of demographers has to say.

We look forward to hearing what you have to say.