Medicare Urgent Care Clinics: Rockingham location will take patients from June 30 as provider announced

Western Australia’s second Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be open by the end of the month in the heart of Rockingham. Brand MP Madeleine King announced on Friday that Rockingham Medical and Dental Centre would be the provider and be operational to see patients by June 30. Rockingham Medical and Dental Centre is centrally located on Civic Boulevard, between Rockingham’s main shopping centre and the council and police precinct. Ms King said the clinic would give residents across Rockingham and Kwinana more primary health care options. “I know many residents and families who have had to wait long hours in the Rockingham emergency department for issues like a broken arm or deep cut,” she said. “The Rockingham UCC will ease pressure on the ED and be much more convenient for our community — closer to home, at short notice, and free under Medicare.” The Federal Government’s capstone health initiative, 58 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are set to pop up around Australia in a bid to ease pressure on hospitals. From 2022-23, the Albanese Government allocated $358m over five years to fund the bulk-billing clinics — with seven to be set up in WA. As the clinics begin their foray into the fraught health system, some are questioning whether they will truly lead to long-term, sustainable change or if they will just move the burden on health services elsewhere. The Rockingham clinic will be open for extended hours, seven days a week, with urgent care to be fully bulk-billed. The Federal Government said with semi and non-urgent conditions accounting for nearly half of all ED presentations in WA, the clinics will fill the expansive gap between general practice and emergency care services. “You’ll be able to walk in and see a doctor or nurse and access imaging and pathology services,” Federal Health Minister Steve Butler said. “The clinic will ease pressure on the Rockingham General Hospital, allowing them to concentrate on higher priority emergencies.” The remaining Medicare Urgent Care Clinics for WA, in Joondalup, Murdoch, Midland, Bunbury and Broome, are all slated to open in 2023.