Burnie will get a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in the next financial year if the Federal Government is re-elected in the upcoming election.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says the Government will commit another $644 million to fund 50 more urgent care clinics around the country, including Burnie and Sorell and Kingston in the South of the state.
Mr Butler says the Burnie clinic will take the pressure off the North West Regional Hospital, which saw 11,690 non-urgent and semi-urgent presentations at the emergency department in the previous year.
Senator Anne Urquhart says the clinic will provide free urgent care, without appointment, and bulk billed, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.
She says residents from right across the North-West Coast will be able to access the clinic.
Senator Urquhart says the Devonport urgent care clinic hs been a great success since opening in December 2023, delivering more than 16,000 appointments diverted away from emergency departments and it’s now Burnie’s time to shine.
Meanwhile, Tasmanian independent senator Tammy Tyrell has called on the Federal Government to fund extended hours for the Devonport Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
The clinic currently operates from 2-9 pm on weekdays and from1-9 pm on weekends.
Last week, the Government announced additional funding to extend hours at the Launceston clinic from 8am to 10 pm, and Senator Tyrell wants to see the same arrangement for Devonport.
She says the 2pm openings aren’t adequate enough, saying people don’t just get sick after lunch.
