The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to Gold Coast residents with a provider for the Gold Coast Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (Medicare UCC) selected, following an Expression of Interest process.
Our Medical Home Gold Coast, based in Oxenford, will be established as a Medicare UCC and will start seeing patients on 13 November.
The Gold Coast Medicare UCC will deliver on the Australian Government’s commitment to make it easier for Gold Coasters to get the urgent treatment they need – from highly qualified doctors and nurses – while taking pressure off the Gold Coast University Hospital.
The Medicare UCC will be open for extended hours, 7 days a week, and offer walk-in care that is fully bulk billed.
Over 40 per cent of presentations to the Gold Coast University Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care.
The Gold Coast clinic is one of the 11 Medicare UCCs across QLD – located in Bundaberg, Cairns, Ipswich, Logan, Northern Brisbane, Murrumba Downs (Redcliffe), Rockhampton, Southern Brisbane, Toowoomba and Townsville.
The Australian Government will continue to work closely with Primary Health Networks and the QLD Government to deliver the remaining Medicare UCCs, all of which will open this year.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“The Gold Coast Medicare UCC is going to make a big difference to patients across the Coast.
“This clinic means Gold Coast residents who need urgent but not acute care, can get it quickly even if it’s outside standard hours – and all they’ll need is their Medicare card.
“We’re committed to strengthening Medicare and making it easier and cheaper to get quality healthcare, by tripling the bulk billing incentive and making medicines cheaper.”
Quotes attributable to Senator Watt:
“We went to the election promising an urgent care clinic for the Gold Coast and we are now delivering it.
“I know many families on the Gold Coast who have had to wait long hours at the Gold Coast University Hospital emergency department for non-life-threatening issues.
“This Medicare UCC will ease pressure on our local ED and be much more convenient for our community – closer to home, at short notice, and bulk billed under Medicare.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health, Mental Health, and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman:
“Gold Coast families deserve free, high quality health care close to home – and that’s exactly what the new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will provide.
“Together with the soon to be open Tugun Satellite Hospital, Medicare Urgent Care Clinics will ease pressures on our busy hospitals.
“It’s so nice to see that after a decade of underfunding by the former LNP federal government, we now have a government that takes healthcare – particularly preventative healthcare – seriously.”
