Last year’s $3.1 million dollar makeover – a major investment from Healthe Care Australia – included the redesign and enlargement of eight private rooms and a new and improved gymnasium, as well as the expansion of their day procedure unit.

It takes Dubbo Private Hospital’s offering to 14 licensed rehabilitation beds, with the potential for another four to be redeveloped in the future.

On Thursday chief executive officer Julie Whinfield took Dubbo Health Service general manager Debbie Bickerton, director of medical services Dr Geoff Hardacre, physician Jeniffer Fiore-Chapman and director of nursing Jenny Johnson on a tour of the new facilities.

“Having the larger rooms and the larger bathrooms certainly enhances the patient comfort,” Ms Whinfield said.

“Physiotherapy can be performed in the rooms, in a much more spacious environment, and we get much better outcomes.”

She said. the larger gymnasium has allowed the hospital to provide additional exercise equipment for patients.

“Our community feedback and our visitor and doctor feedback has been very positive about the changes.”

Dubbo Health Service general manager Debbie Bickerton said the increased rehabilitation capacity was “critical for Dubbo” and the greater western region.

“I think it’s critical for Dubbo Health Service to have a good relationship with Dubbo Private and to have a look at the refurbished rooms is great because we do send patients over here,” she said.

“We are the acute phase of [a patient’s] illness and we don’t have the resources nor the scope in our hospital to go through the whole journey for the patient so once they’re over that acute phase we tend to send them back to periphery hospitals and often to rehab services.

“To have access to additional rehab services is fantastic for us … and to know that the patients have got such a nice environment to come to, it’s an even better selling point.”