Push for Palliative group identify 'preferred' location in Orange

Now, after years of discussions, Jenny Hazelton and the rest of the Push for Palliative group have found their spot in a vacant area behind the Bloomfield cricket oval.

"It's on Crown land, there's beautiful gumtrees and what you'll hear is the sounds of birds because it's so quiet," she said.

"This is going to be one of our preferred locations. We have been looking for years for a preferred location and this is one of them.

"The hospital is a little more than 100 metres away, so it's close to medical services, it's right on the edge of town and it's in the health precinct."

The desire for a green build - the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient - became increasingly clear for Ms Hazelton throughout years of campaigning for the city to receive funding for a dedicated palliative care facility.

This push for government funding has ramped up in recent weeks, following news that $21 million had been allocated to Tamworth for the city's very own dedicated palliative care facility.

"Tamworth has six dedicated beds already and now the government has announced they would double it, but we haven't heard what's happening here," Ms Hazelton added.

"This is imperative. It's our turn, it's our time."

The care facility that the group is asking for would see a dedicated 12 beds - up from the two currently situated at Orange Hospital - and also cater for the "full" palliative experience, rather than just end of life care. This decision came following a palliative care strategic taskforce meeting chaired by Member for Orange Phil Donato where a dedicated facility was identified as a "top priority."

"We have been working really hard behind the scenes for years. We have submissions in to the NSW Premier, but we want this to be above politics. This is not something to play games with or put conditions on," Ms Hazelton said.

"What we're asking the politicians for is to be unanimous, so that there are no conditions on funding. We'll move forward with whatever the outcome is of the state election, but we're looking at the federal government as well."

The Push for Palliative president said that once they have a funding commitment, the group can get to work on the next steps of the process.

"Once we've got commitment from the state government, we can go forward and talk about partnerships with others such as the NGOs, but we need to have a commitment from the government. It's in the wind until that happens.

"Bottom line is, when the government announced funding for Tamworth, that's $21 million for a free-standing, green build and that's what we want."

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