The Australian Government is delivering for residents on the Sunshine Coast with the opening of the Buderim Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
Located at 9 Ochre Way, Sippy Downs, the Buderim Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is now open extended hours, seven days a week.
No appointment is needed, patients can walk in and all services are bulk billed.
The highly trained doctors and nurses are equipped to treat a range of conditions and injuries that need urgent attention but aren't life-threatening, including cuts, viral infections, or a sprained ankle.
The Buderim Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will ease pressure on the busy Sunshine Coast University Hospital where around 27 presentations in 2023-24 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.
The clinic will join the existing network of 16 existing UCCs across Queensland with a further 8 to be established across the state. Around Australia, 94 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have now been established.
This is part of the Australian Government's commitment to deliver more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across the country with four out of five Australians to live within a 20‑minute drive from their local clinic.
Labor's Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have already seen more than 2.2 million presentations since the first sites opened in June 2023, including over 439,800 presentations to Queensland Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.
Over one in four of these were patients aged under 15 years old, more than one in four were on weekends, and over one in four were weekday after hours visits (at or after 5pm).
The clinic is commissioned by Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"The Buderim Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is a game changer for families in Central Queensland.
"The new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will ease pressure on the emergency department at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and free up staff at the hospital to provide care to people with more serious conditions.
"This clinic is a key part of the Albanese Government's commitment to strengthen Medicare and make health care more accessible and affordable."
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister McBride:
"The new Buderim Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will provide Sunshine Coast locals greater access to urgent care, seven days a week, over extended hours.
"The Albanese Labor Government is strengthening Medicare by delivering more fully bulk-billed healthcare, close to home."
"A second Medicare Urgent Care Clinic on the Sunshine Coast is set to open in the new year in Caloundra"
Quotes attributable to Senator Mulholland:
"The Albanese Labor Government promised a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for Buderim, and we have delivered.
"As a mum with a young child, I know firsthand how important it is for families to have access to free, urgent healthcare close to home.
"If you have something like a minor sprain, infection or rash you can now get looked after without having to visit the hospital - and the only thing you'll need is your Medicare card."
