Mr Ower stood on Horsham's Firebrace Street with a breadboard reading 'Save our Hospital' and said the proposed amalgamation of the two health services would be to the Wimmera's disadvantage.

"I can not understand that the board of the hospital would come to the conclusion that they would quite casually hand over the autonomy of the hospital here in Horsham to another entity 185 kilometres away," Mr Ower said.

"It just doesn't make sense. If they thought that by doing a merger they were going to gain financially, or gain better services for some reason. I fail to see their logic."

Wimmera Health Care Group has been exploring a possible partnership or merger with Ballarat Health Services to increase health outcomes for people across the region.

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The merger proposal is in it's community consultation stage. It has not yet been revealed to what extent the two health services will become amalgamated, or if Wimmera Health Care Group will exist in its current state after the merge.

Mr Ower said a merger would only bring negative outcomes for Horsham and the surrounding townships that rely on the Wimmera Base Hospital for health services.

"I think that what they are planning to do is a betrayal of the people of the Wimmera and the people of Horsham," Mr Ower said.

"To think that over 100 years ago people worked tirelessly to get a public hospital. They have worked ever since to build it up, provide for it, nurture it, to build better systems and a much more comprehensive suite of services so that they have a base hospital.

"And now the board decides to just surrender that to another hospital in Ballarat and think that is going to be a benefit to the people of the Wimmera.

"If they merge with Ballarat it will be a new organisation with a new management system. I believe that Ballarat being the size it is compared to Horsham, the representation from this end would be much smaller compared to the other."

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Mr Ower also believes there has not been enough community consultation for the proposal.

Wimmera Health Care Group Chief Executive Officer Catherine Morley said both health services had been using every medium at their disposal to get the partnering messaging out.

"The first announcement about partnering discussions was made in August last year and we have been asking for several months for people to tell us what they want from a partnership," Ms Morley said.

"Our boards have been on the front foot, especially the chairs and they have used radio, newspapers and social media to ask the community what they want in improvements to health services.

"We have arranged several community consultation sessions both on ZOOM for people concerned about physical distancing - and face to face group sessions at Horsham Golf Club and our day centre.

Have anything to say on this issue? Get in touch - alex.dalziel@austcommunitymedia.com.au

"We are also going to be popping up at community markets in the next two weeks. I would strongly encourage people to get involved and have their say about the future of health services to the region.

"The numbers who have registered for sessions to date have not been overwhelming by any means so please encourage your friends and family to get involved."

But for Mr Ower, the community consultation process has been, possibly deliberately, obfuscated.

"It's four Zoom meetings, and two face-to-face meetings on Friday, February 5, which is the busiest day of the week," Mr Ower said.

"It's right in the middle of the day on the busiest day of the week, so business people can not attend because they are working, with no other evening meeting."

"This is a decision so important to the people of the Wimmera that there should be at least one, if not two public meetings in Horsham Town Hall where people can come and they can debate and talk through the issues with the board and with an independent chairman."

For more information on the proposal, and dates for consultation meetings, visit http://www.whcg.org.au/all-categories/2-uncategorised/599-partnering-for-better-health

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