If you believe what the locals are saying, the unit needs a complete rebuild.

Standing in the shadow of the new acute services building, one of the crowning jewels in the hospital’s $211 million redevelopment, it’s not hard to see why people get riled looking at the rehab unit which is a time capsule from another era.

The Tamworth hospital grounds are dotted with little time capsules.

From the 1883 building, to the Bruderlin wing, to the North West Cancer Centre and the newest developments, there’s little signposts from Tamworth’s modern history.

But one of the hospital’s relics always seems to generate a bit of debate. The old rehab unit.

It felt like there was a sigh of relief when news of a face-lift for the maligned unit came through.

The refurbishment brought to us by Hunter New England Health – outside of funding for the overall redevelopment – is a quite a curious one.

Rural and Regional Health Services Executive Director Susan Heyman hasn’t put a price tag on the project and said “planning will identify any additional works that may be required to assist patients, staff and their families to be more comfortable”.

Judging from the feedback coming through our channels, locals reckon a lot of additional work is required.

Responses swung from polite requests for televisions in the patient’s rooms, to calls for a complete overhaul from the ground up.

But the decision to renovate a few aspects of the unit raises a few questions.

Why wasn’t the rehab included in the hospital’s overall redevelopment?

Why don’t we know the cost of the rehab’s refurb?

With Hunter New England Health saying they will identify additional works to help the rehab’s patients and their families, they’ve opened themselves up to a slew of feedback and suggestions from the Tamworth community.

Without a price tag on the project, it makes it harder to say no to suggestions from people living in the community that relies on the rehab centre.

But is the local health district actually going to listen to the community when planning additional works that may be required, or have the unit’s future upgrades already been mapped out?