Staff gathered at the opening of the Urgent Health Care Centre at the NCN Health Cobram Campus on March 27 last year.
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Numerous hospitals across Victoria found themselves operating in the red at the end of the 2023-24 financial year, with NCN Health not immune to recent challenges faced by healthcare services in the state.
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In its annual report, released at its AGM in November last year, NCN Health recorded a net deficit result of $428,000 at the end of the last financial year.
NCN Health CEO Mark Ashcroft addressed concerns raised over the organisation’s financial position, highlighting that the net result included depreciation and amortisation of the organisation’s assets.
“The Report of Operations in the annual report demonstrates how the operating result (SOP) is related to the ($428k) deficit figure. The Report of Operations outlines the underlying strength of results for NCN Health,” Mr Ashcroft said.
“The overall reported financial results demonstrate that NCN Health is able to retain a responsible financial position.
“In doing so, NCN Health has been able to maintain a positive financial outlook despite another very challenging year and in the context of the formation of the Health Services Plan.”
NCN Health CEO Mark Ashcroft said the organisation was in a responsible financial position going into the future.
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The plan, released in August last year by the Victorian Department of Health, outlined 27 recommendations to improve connectivity of care across Victoria’s healthcare system.
One recommendation, whose implementation was later rejected by Premier Jacinta Allan, was to consolidate health services to “reduce inequities and improve consistency in care, as a single entity becomes responsible for each community’s health outcomes”.
NCN Health belongs to the Murray Primary Health Network, which extends beyond Shepparton to Marysville in the south.
“Importantly we have adapted our services, confronted system budget challenges to meet local needs and ensured essential health care continues with a particular focus on our workforce and service delivery for our community,” Mr Ashcroft said.
The organisation also recorded an improvement in the number of days on which cash was available for everyday operations, from 135.85 days at the end of 2023 to 161 days at the end of 2024.
In contrast, Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton recorded a net deficit of $41.7m in the past financial year. Moreover, it recorded negative-seven (-7) days on which cash was not available to conduct its daily operations.
Further afield, Albury Wodonga Health also recorded a deficit of $52.4m, with 7.6 days on which cash was available.
