Like so many of late, I was down and out with Covid recently. My husband Andrew had it before me and swiftly passed it on, so we were in isolation together for 5 days. He received a mild case and was on the mend in no time. Unfortunately, things didn't go too well with me and I became sick quite quickly.
I was laid up for over a week, which was a bit of a struggle both mentally and physically as I have a pretty good constitution and don't get sick very often. My last common cold was 3 ½ years ago, go figure.
I registered my positive RAT test diagnosis online, not thinking that much of it to be honest. Well, I was blown away with what happened next and I am in awe of how well our local health care services are. I received daily text messages to monitor my symptoms and this was backed up by several phone calls from nurses at the MDHS.
On day three, when I was really starting to struggle to breathe, the nurse who rang suggested I book a Telehealth with a doctor to get some medication. I rang my clinic in Maryborough and was able to get a phone appointment for mid-morning the next day. The doctor wasn't my usual GP, but that didn't matter as he was on the ball and prescribed a bunch of medications straight away, including the new Antiviral one. The scripts were emailed to my local pharmacy pronto and within a couple of hours they were hand delivered right to my front doorstep. This all just happened, I didn't have to chase anyone, or ring, or email.
Healthcare is one of those things that can be very divisive, but I honestly think we are very blessed in the Central Goldfields with the excellent facilities that are available to us. Of course, it doesn't provide for more complex cases, but I do believe it would get you out of trouble for most situations. And now that the new proposed $100M new hospital in Maryborough has started with Stage 1 underway, there is even more reason to love living in the Central Goldfields!
