The meeting is scheduled for 6pm on Wednesday, July 3, with the main agenda being the influence of proposed hospital mergers on Seymour Health and the broader local community.
“I feel it is incredibly important to ensure our community is kept informed about what these mergers will do to our local hospitals, Seymour Health included,” Ms Cleeland said.
“While I was in Seymour just last week, many people expressed that Seymour Health was simply too large to be included in these mergers.
“Sadly, this is not the case.”
Ms Cleeland has publicly expressed her worries about the potential effects of these mergers on Seymour and other regional areas.
“Our health services in both Seymour and Benalla are set for mergers with larger hospitals, bringing some serious consequences for our towns,” she said.
“Local hospitals are a sense of pride for our communities, are major employers and ensure that locals can get high-quality treatment without having to travel long distances.
“I wholeheartedly oppose these mergers and support the right of our local hospitals to operate independently and not lose their local skill, local knowledge and local care.”
In response, she has facilitated a feature on her website that allows residents to directly send a pre-drafted letter to Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas, advocating for the protection of local hospitals from any changes.
All community members with an interest in this topic are warmly invited to participate in the discussion.
You can register your interest for the event on Ms Cleeland’s Facebook page here https://shorturl.at/C9fl4
To get involved, visit Email the Health Minister about our Hospitals – Annabelle Cleeland MP.