Fiona Phillips MP, Member for Gilmore along with Prudence Buist, Chief Executive Officer of COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW PHN, today announced ForHealth has been selected as the provider for the Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (Medicare UCC), following an Expression of Interest process.  

The Batemans Bay Medicare UCC, which will start seeing patients on 1 December 2023, will operate from the grounds of Batemans Bay Hospital at 7 Pacific St, Batemans Bay.  

People in the Eurobodalla region who need urgent health care, for non-life-threatening conditions, will be able to walk-in to the Medicare UCC to receive fully bulk billed care, by highly trained doctors and nurses.  

The Batemans Bay Medicare UCC will be open 8am to 6pm, seven days a week including public holidays with plans to expand hours during holiday periods.   

Pictured: Marg Bennet, CE of SNSW LHD, Simon Taylor-Cross, Director NSW and ACT, For Health, Fiona Phillips MP, Member for Gilmore, Prue Buist, CEO COORDINARE - South Eastern NSW PHN, and Brad Scotcher, General Manager, Coastal Network SNSW LHD, at the announcement of the new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Batemans Bay.

Prudence Buist, Chief Executive Officer of COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW PHN said: “This new clinic should make it easier for Batemans Bay residents to get the urgent treatment they need, while taking pressure off Moruya Hospital's emergency department.  

“We’ve worked closely with both the Australian and NSW governments to ensure the Medicare UCCs align with local health services and the needs of our community.  

“It is exciting to soon welcome a new free service to the community for assistance with urgent care needs, in lieu of going to the emergency department. We look forward to the formal opening toward the end of the year,” said Ms Buist.  

Fiona Phillips MP, Member for Gilmore said: “Having the UCC located at the same location as the Batemans Bay hospital is fantastic, because the local community don’t need to change where they go in case of an emergency.  

“This will ease pressure on our local ED and be much more convenient for our community, the centre will be completely bulk-billed meaning that people needing urgent but non-life-threatening care will save on out-of-pocket costs.  

“About 55 percent* of the current presentations to the Batemans Bay ED are non-life-threatening or semi-urgent, which the new UCC can now handle. This will help alleviate pressure on the ED whilst ensuring people can get the urgent professional care they need,” said Ms Phillips.  

*AIHW MyHospitals Emergency Department Presentations 2020-21