Save Wee Waa Hospital

05/10/2026

Extended hours have begun!

From 5 October, Wee Waa Health Service will be open from 7am to 10pm, seven days a week.

The longer operating hours have been made possible by successful recruitment, with more nurses joining our team over the coming months.

This means more access to healthcare, for more of the day, closer to home.

A big thank you to our staff, our Wee Waa Local Health Committee and the community for your ongoing support.

14/09/2026

We have some amazing new nurses who have recently relocated to call Wee Waa home! 🏡💕

Please come along and help us give them a warm Wee Waa welcome and show them just how wonderful our community is.

📍 Wee Waa Hospital grounds
🗓 This Saturday (19th Sept)
⏰ 11am

We’d love to see plenty of friendly faces there! 🏥❤️

13/09/2026

Since May 2023, the Wee Waa community has consistently asked for three essential services to be restored:

🚨 An on-call doctor who can attend in person, not just a virtual doctor, through a GP Visiting Medical Officer (VMO).

🚨 A hospital open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including emergency services.

🚨 Operational inpatient beds for local patients.

These remain the unchanged priorities of Save Our Wee Waa Hospital (SOWWH), outlined in our 12,000-signature petition presented to Parliament in March 2025 with support across the political spectrum.

Hunter New England Health’s announcement extending opening hours from 8am–5.30pm to 7am–10pm from 5 October 2026 is a welcome step. But longer hours do not amount to a fully functioning hospital.

While Wee Waa Hospital remains without an on-call doctor, closes overnight and has no operational inpatient beds, our community’s needs remain unmet. Medical emergencies do not stop at closing time. This vast, busy agricultural district needs reliable hospital care at any hour.

Telehealth can support local care, but it cannot replace an on-call doctor who can attend in person when required. SOWWH will support any doctor or medical provider willing and able to sustainably deliver the full rural hospital services our community needs.

We will continue working with the Wee Waa Local Health Committee, Hunter New England Health Local Health District and elected representatives across all parties to restore these services.

After more than three years, the community deserves a clear commitment and a firm timetable for restoration.

Our position is straightforward: an on-call doctor, not just a virtual doctor; a hospital open around the clock; emergency services; and inpatient care.

We will continue advocating until these services are restored.

17/08/2026

11/08/2026

Wee Waa Health Service opening hours will be extended to 7am to 10pm from October 5. Longer hours will make it easier for locals to get access to health care without having to travel to Narrabri.

The Hospital went to reduced hours back in 2023 due to a lack of staff. Since then, I have worked with the community and Government to ensure that Hunter New England LHD return it to proper operation.

An independent review, held at my request, revealed problems with the management culture in HNE and delivered its findings and recommendations in July 2025. We have been moving forward implementing recommendations from the review - with the help of the Wee Waa Local Health Committee - and enough new nurses have now been hired that opening hours can be extended.

There is still more to do but things are moving in a more positive direction. I will continue to work to ensure that the hospital returns to 24/7 operations with Visiting Medical Officers, so that an emergency department can be properly supported.

15/03/2026

This Rural Health Action Plan, created by Dr Joe McGirr MP makes sense. It's exactly what we need here in Wee Waa, and in every rural and regional area. It's the commonsense we desperately need to fix the issues we have with our healthcare system in the bush. Please have a read and support his petition which can be found on the website: https://joemcgirr.com.au/rhap

02/02/2026

Do you have a vacant farmhouse within 10km of town or a house in Wee Waa that could be available for nurses relocating to work at our hospital?

Access to suitable housing is one practical way we can help attract nursing staff and support the return of 24/7 hospital services.

If you may be able to assist, please send us a message with relevant details (please do not comment below with exact addresses of vacant properties).

13/11/2025

The Committee on Community Services has tabled its report: Health Services Amendment (Splitting of the Hunter New England Health District) Bill 2025.

The report is available on the Committee website here 👇

The Committee is inquiring into and reporting on the Health Services Amendment (Splitting of the Hunter New England Health District) Bill 2025, which proposes to split the Hunter New England Local Health District into the Hunter Local Health District and the New England North West Local Health Distr...

12/11/2025

Hi all, here’s a link to the latest update of the Implementation Plan. Please provide any updates or questions to us by Friday (14th Nov) so we can pass this on to the Local Health Committee members to discuss at their upcoming meeting with HNEH:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iCbjIdrppWnRq98y2g8ntFEeVb95SwCf/view?usp=drivesdk

[Note: This latest plan hasn’t been uploaded to the HNEH website yet so we are providing a link directly to the PDF]

15/10/2025

An update to HNEH’s implementation plan has now been uploaded to their website. Please see the below link 👇 Leave your comments below, we’d love to know what you think!