Two buses collided head-on at Clybucca Flat, 12km north of Kempsey, on December 22, 1989.

Some 35 lives were lost and another 41 people were injured.

The then Hastings District Hospital played a pivotal role in response to the emergency.

Registered nurse Karen Slater said there would be a presentation during the November 9 Hastings District Hospital reunion as an acknowledgement of the bus crash's 30^th anniversary and the impact it had on staff at the time.

"We had never been through anything like that before," she said.

Ms Slater was among three medical staff raced from the hospital to the crash scene.

She said nothing prepared her, despite years of working in the emergency nursing environment, for the experience of attending to casualties on the side of the road.

The then deputy director of nursing Heather Nicholson remembers transfers, theatres operating non-stop and bed management at the hospital in the aftermath of the crash.

The Hastings District Hospital team pulled together in their response.

The reunion will mark 25 years since the Hastings District Hospital closed.

Ms Slater said Hastings District Hospital had an amazing team.

"It was a little hospital and everyone knew each other," she said.

"The friendships and bonds made there never leave you."

Mrs Nicholson reflected on the great team at Hastings District Hospital and the significant change linked with the privatised base hospital model.

"For a lot of us, it changed our professional direction, and our personal direction, for some," she said.

Port Macquarie Base opened as a privately-operated and publicly-funded hospital after the move from Hastings District Hospital.

The base hospital's funding model whipped up controversy.

Port Macquarie Base Hospital has since returned to public hands.

Former Hastings District Hospital staff members are invited to the 25-year reunion at Rydges Port Macquarie on November 9 from 6pm.

Ms Slater said the reunion would be a chance to reminisce and remember.

Tickets cost $50 each and are available online through ticketing system 123 Tix or at the Hastings District Hospital reunion 2019 Facebook page.

The reunion organising committee features Karen Slater, Heather Nicholson, Sue Pritchard, Tracey Morris and Debbie Deasey.

The last reunion was five years ago.

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