HERVEY Bay residents will be able to access fully bulk billed care with a new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (Medicare UCC).
The Hervey Bay Medicare UCC will provide care for urgent, but not life-threatening conditions, such as a rash, infection, cut, and sprained ankle. It will be open seven days a week for extended hours with no appointment required.
In 2022–23, more than 40 per cent of presentations to Hervey Bay Hospital were for semi-urgent and non-urgent conditions. This clinic will reduce pressure on Hervey Bay Hospital and help meet the needs of the community.
The new clinic in Hervey Bay will be in addition to the state’s existing clinics in Bundaberg, Cairns South, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan (Browns Plains), Northside, Murrumba Downs, Rockhampton, South Brisbane, Toowoomba and Townsville.
More funding will also go to supporting Medicare UCCs in regional, rural and remote areas, to further support staffing across extended hours.
There have been more than 36,500 presentations to the Queensland Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.
In Queensland, 30% of all visits so far have taken place on a weekend, and 1 in 4 after 5pm on a weekday.
Hervey Bay was selected as a location for a new Medicare UCC in consultation with the Queensland Government.
An Expression of Interest process will open shortly to identify a suitable provider for the Hervey Bay Medicare UCC. The service will be commissioned by the Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network.
Assistant Minister, Emma McBride said, “The Hervey Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will deliver bulk billed urgent care for locals and reduce pressure on the Hervey Bay Hospital.”
“Since the first Medicare Urgent Care Clinic opened its doors in June last year there has been more than 500,000 visits across the country.”
Member for Hervey Bay Adrian Tantari said, “This announcement is a game changer for free health care for the people of Hervey Bay and the Fraser Coast.”
“As the fastest growing region in the Wide Bay, having seven days a week and extended hours service is exactly what the doctor ordered for our community.”