Heal Specialist Urgent Care clinic opens today as part of an ongoing bid to ease healthcare pressures in the Hunter as hospitals fail to meet emergency department benchmarks.
Founder Tim Stewart hopes the centre will bridge the gap between emergency rooms and general practice, decreasing the wait times for both.
"We've got specialists and a multi-disciplinary team, which until now you'd only find in a hospital.
"As an emergency physician working in public emergency departments ... I just couldn't stand by and continue to watch patient with minor injuries and illnesses waiting 10 or 12 hours to be seen," Dr Stewart said.
The centre, in Newcastle West, is a private practice and not one of the 50 bulk-billed urgent care clinics planned under the Albanese government.
The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) NSW President Dr Michael Bonning said AMA NSW "are supportive of urgent care services that work in conjunction with existing general practices and provide comprehensive and accessible care".
The clinic will cost patients a $295 flat fee, which covers consultation, in-house medical imaging and testing, treatments including IV drips and care for fractures. A partial Medicare rebate is available.
Dr Stewart said the pricing would ensure the clinic was viable long-term, as the current Medicare structure "just doesn't cover the cost of doing business".
"The $295 [per patient] allows us to run a business that is successful and for us to build more clinics. In doing so, we're off-setting the burden on the public health system," he said.
Dr Stewart and his team submitted a proposal to the state government outlining a way to see public patients at the clinic, but he says it did not gain traction.
"Without government support- either fixing Medicare or providing funding- we'll never be able to improve the accessibility for patients, which is what we set out to do in the first place," he said.
Dr Stewart expects the clinic will see 50 patients per day by February 2024. If government funding is secured, the service will have capacity to double this number.
Heal Specialist Urgent Care is on the corner of Parry Street and Union Street and is open 8am-6pm every day.
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