The Mid North Coast Local Health District Governing Body has informed the council the new hospital being built on the greenfield site at North Macksville will be known as the Macksville District Hospital.
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In a letter CEO Stewart Dowrick said the current hospital in Macksville had been a recognisable part of the community for 60 years and although the new one was 3.5km to the north, it was not necessary to change the name.
In his report to the Nambucca Shire councillors on February 28 General Manager Michael Coulter said the council had received a petition of 160 signatures favouring the name 'Nambucca Valley District Hospital'.
The mayor, Rhonda Hoban, said she had asked the MNCLHD in August whether community input into the naming process was possible and if so how.
The response was that "the intention was to seek community input and the project team was investigating this".
The recent letter included no information in relation to what process was undertaken to elicit community input.
Under 'Risk' in his report, the general manager quoted Shakespeare; "What's in a name?"
And then continued: "On the one hand a name can be seen as a fairly superficial convention but as Romeo and Juliet discovered, they can also be expressions about communities and relationships".