Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health Melinda Pavey was joined by Member for the Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay, Upper House MPs Sarah Mitchell and Scott MacDonald and Northern Tablelands Cluster manager Wendy Mulligan.

The group visited Armidale Hospital and the UNE Medical School, before arriving in Glen Innes later in the afternoon.

Mrs Pavey was invited to tour the hospitals by Mrs Mitchell and commended the staff of both facilities.

She is the first Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Health in NSW and has been in the position since last May. Mrs Pavey has visited more than 20 hospitals in regional NSW since her appointment.

“We appreciate the work hospitals such as Glen Innes do,” she said.

“I’ve been blown away by the spirit of community in both Armidale and Glen Innes.”

The group had a tour of Glen Innes Hospital before sitting down with other hospital staff members and members of the community to discuss the major issues around the area.

“That is doctors, or the lack thereof,” Mrs Pavey said.

She said that doctors need to be made aware that places like Glen Innes are great towns to live in.

“The government can’t dictate to doctors where they work,” she said.

“We need to be able to get the message across that places like Glen Innes not only offer a great lifestyle but offer great clinical options.”

Mrs Pavey is in the process of liaising with NSW Minister for Health Jillian Skinner to create a taskforce to deal with problems like the lack of doctors in regional areas.

Mr Torbay said he was thrilled to have Mrs Pavey in the area.

"I welcome her visit to see firsthand the issues in Glen Innes," he said.

"Her visit falls on the eve of the Community Health Consultation report being published."

Mr Torbay said a number of strong points were raised in the meeting.

"I was pleased to hear community members and doctors raising issues such as a helipad, dialysis service and disabled access."