Attention turned to health this week when Premier Gladys Berejiklian dropped into Nowra to check the progress on Shoalhaven Hospital's multi-storey car park.
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The Premier's visit coincided with the release of figures showing the hospital's emergency department was among the worst in the state when it came to treating seriously ill patients within the recommended time frame.
The strain on the emergency ward has at times been so great patients have had to be transferred to Shellhabour Hospital.
South Coast MP Shelley Hancock blamed the longer wait times on the flu season and the influx of holiday-makers. Those holiday-makers are becoming a year-round issue, it seems, with out-of-season tourism cranking up in the region.
And we can expect even more visitors straining local services now the Nowra bridge has been recognised as a project of national sigfnificance by Infrastructure Australia. The new bridge and highway upgrades north of Nowra mean we're in for growth and, with it, growing pains.
It's best we start looking for solutions sooner rather than later.
