The planned closure of the Central Highlands General Practice in Ouse will only add to the dire health situation already facing the Derwent Valley and Central Highlands.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said it had been well known for a long time that this region was facing a health crisis of its own.
"In August I tabled a petition in Parliament that called on the State Government to address the health situation in the Derwent Valley and Central Highlands," Ms White said.
"This petition was signed by over 3000 people and called on the State Government to introduce Nurse Practitioners at the New Norfolk Hospital to offer a local urgent care option for residents.
"The petition also called on the government to lobby their Federal counterparts to reschedule New Norfolk under Medicare and the Modified Monash Model to a level 5, to improve the incentive for Doctors practicing in the Valley."
Ms White said this wasn't the first health petition Derwent Valley residents had put their name to over the past few years. With residents well aware that the lack of local services not only disadvantages the community but also puts more pressure on the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department.
"With the closure of the only GP in Ouse and new housing developments being built in New Norfolk, more pressure will be placed on an already buckling health services.
"Residents have been calling on the government to act for some time now and Labor went to the May 1 Election with a clear plan to upgrade services in the Derwent Valley and the Central Highlands.
"The New Norfolk District Hospital is vastly underutilised and with key health professionals in the area retiring over the past year, access to health services in the Valley have been decreasing for some time.
"It has taken the closure of the only GP in Ouse for the government to wake up to this crisis and it's time for Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff to increase services at the New Norfolk hospital so patients can be seen in their local community."
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
