Deception Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic a step closer

A provider has been selected to operate the new Deception Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, with the centre expected to open “in the coming months”.

It follows a competitive tender process led by the Brisbane North Primary Health Network.

Forhealth has been selected to operate the Deception Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic which will be at 75-79 Bailey Rd, Deception Bay.

It will be open seven days a week, offering extended hours.

The clinic aims to help ease pressure on the Caboolture Hospital emergency department, where about 20 per cent of presentations in 2023-24 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.

The Deception Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will join the existing network of 16 across Queensland.

Ninety Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are in operation across Australia and have treated more than 2.2 million people since the first sites opened in June 2023. This includes more than 439,800 presentations in Queensland.

Federal Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler says the clinic will be “fully bulk billed”.

“This clinic will take pressure off the local hospitals, including the Caboolture Hospital, and will fill an important gap in services across extended hours and over the weekend,” he says.

Federal Member for Petrie Emma Comer says access to healthcare is a priority for her community.

“This is a win for locals and a win for a stronger, more accessible healthcare system,” she says.

For an update on the Clinic opening you can read here.