Politics & Council
12 March, 2026
Stuck in the ‘Sahara health desert’
By Cr Gavan Holt - Loddon Shire’s Wedderburn Ward councillor - writes of his disgust after the State Government's promise of a new ambulance station for the town was pulled
AMBULANCE Victoria, an arm of the Victorian Government, has decided to abandon its plan to build an ambulance station in Wedderburn. This is so disappointing for the community.
At the last census Wedderburn was, by a small margin, the most populous town in the Loddon Shire.
It is very fortunate to have a health clinic with doctor operating four and a half days per week, nine hours per day, which is approximately one quarter of the week and local community ambulance officers who do an excellent job.
Outside of this it is left very exposed in terms of health care. Of the towns in Victoria who have community ambulance officers, Wedderburn has the most call outs. It is becoming overwhelming.
The town has no hospital, no aged care facility and no ambulance station.
Every comparable town in the north central region has a hospital and aged care facility: Inglewood, Boort, Charlton, Wycheproof, Birchip, Donald, St Arnaud and Dunolly.
I remember in the early 1990s when a Government decision was made to close Wedderburn’s hospital, the community was shattered.
My father, Lindsay Holt, who at the time was a longstanding councillor on the Shire of Korong and I think Shire President (mayor) felt betrayed after receiving assurances that this would not happen.
I remember getting our horse drawn hearse out of the museum, yoking it to Dolly and driving it up High Street with a placard reading “The Death of a Town”. Wedderburn was the first community in Loddon Shire to drive the development of a new multi-use community centre consisting of a Neighbourhood House, Loddon Tourism and an arm of the Inglewood and District Health Service.
This latter part of the facility is now under used by the IDHS. When I was doing rehabilitation at the Inglewood hospital last year after my illness, all six people participating were from Wedderburn.
Why were they not receiving this service in Wedderburn?
It has become fashionable of late to talk about deserts. In terms of health care Wedderburn is not the Simpson Desert, it is the Sahara.
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