Emergency Medicine Network 3

Why Wagga Wagga Base Hospital?

Situated halfway between Sydney and Melbourne (a 5 hour drive GPO to GPO with more than 7 flights to Sydney each day), Wagga Wagga is the largest inland city in New South Wales with a population of over 65,000. The hospital services an area of over 250,000 people.

Wagga Wagga Base Hospital (WWBH) is a 265-bed rural referral hospital with all major subspecialties excluding cardiothoracic and neurosurgery. It is the largest referral hospital in the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and one of the busiest rural hospitals in NSW. Currently the Emergency Department sees more than 45,000 patients per year with upwards of 17,000 admissions and has 30-40 hours per day of FACEM coverage with on-call FACEM coverage overnight.

Trainees see everything that comes through the door of the Department, including Paediatrics, and can refer locally. WWBH is the regional centre for:

• Trauma
• Imaging
• Cardiac (PTCA)
• Stroke
• Paediatric
• Mental Health
• Women’s Health
• Renal
• Orthopaedic
• Vascular
• Respiratory

WWBH is now a Tier 1 Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM) accredited hospital, offering accreditation of 36 months, with other accredited rotations available within Wagga Wagga, such as Anaesthetics, Intensive Care, Ultrasound & Paediatrics. WWBH has an excellent training program with 10 hours per fortnight dedicated and paid teaching time. Teaching includes regular multi-disciplinary SIM training, paediatrics sessions, guest speakers, registrar presentations, case-based discussions and more - including primary and fellowship examination preparation. There are also second monthly M+M and USS sessions.

A redevelopment of Wagga Wagga Base Hospital has been completed with brand new hospital facilities and an emergency department with dedicated acute, ambulatory and EMU areas.

Both the University of New South Wales and the University of Notre Dame have clinical schools in Wagga Wagga and the WWBH accommodates medical students from both these universities.

For further information, please contact:

Dr Syeda Begum
Director of Emergency
Syeda.Begum@health.nsw.gov.au

Dr Michael Davoren
Director of Emergency Medicine Training
Michael.Davoren@health.nsw.gov.au