A recent injection of $400,000 on top of the $1 million the hospital received out of the last state budget, however, is going towards addressing the air-conditioning and other patient comforts. A new recruit, meanwhile, brings the x-ray department back to full strength to provide around-the-clock service.

READ MORE: Emergency Department gets a major upgrade

Hospital manager Tony Roberts said while the aim is to run air-conditioning throughout the facility, priority will be given to patient rooms. Currently three of the 18 beds, which includes two palliative care rooms, are air-conditioned.

Refurbishing patient bathrooms is also a priority, as are necessary maintenance issues like removing asbestos. Extending ducted air-conditioning throughout the physiotherapy, x-ray and mental health departments as well as offices is a second-tier priority and will also be done by the end of this financial year, should the budget stretch that far.

"The building needs a little bit of love," he said.

Mr Roberts said the x-ray department has been short-staffed since a resignation causing some logistical concerns, but remaining part-timer Karen Holley went above-and-beyond the call of duty to meet the demand where she could.

Jacob Pieper has now stepped into the breach full-time, allowing the department to return to regular services and provide on-call radiography for out-of-hours emergencies.

The Pieper name is of course synonymous with Tenterfield. Jacob is the son of Thomas and wife Jennifer, and grew up in Coffs Harbour.

He said he visited Tenterfield often as a child, so the job advertisement appealed when he came across it.

Since his recruitment he has been undergoing training in Armidale, Tamworth and Glen Innes with last week being his first official week on duty at Tenterfield Hospital. Coming from a posting in Grafton, he doesn't see the move to a small hospital as a drawback and said the Health Department is being very supportive of his continuing education.

He has committed to staying put for the next three years, and to see what happens after that.

So far a lot of his patients' names have been familiar although no family members have required his services thus far. He said everyone has been very nice and welcoming, and talkative.

On addition to the now restored x-ray service, the hospital offers a host of ancillary services to local residents. These include community health nurse Nicole Green who also offers diabetic education, and physiotherapist Megan Rivett. These two work at the hospital 'half time', so five days a fortnight.

Other visiting services include a speech therapist, podiatrist, a mental health team, a dietician, and GP Dr Mark Kelly who conducts a monthly clinic. All of the these services are free to Medicare card holders.

Mr Roberts said probably half the hospital's telehealth business revolves around providing a video linkup from the hospital to Toowoomba oncology specialists, to help patients avoid travel where possible. Telehealth is being used often by patients being treated by doctors in Toowoomba or Armidale, on the occasions when their doctor just needs a connection to discuss test results with them. (Tenterfield Hospital does not provide chemotherapy.)

"We're trying to keep people in town, but we're not going to be able to replace every trip," Mr Roberts said.

As the hospital undergoes a facelift and its emergency department enjoys a major overhaul, Mr Roberts said his wonderful team has stepped up to the daily challenges they encounter in the ongoing redevelopment.