An Expression of Interest (EOI) will open on 24 February 2023 in South Australia to establish five Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (Medicare UCCs).
The five Medicare UCCs will ease pressure on South Australian hospitals and give SA families more options to see a healthcare professional when and where they need it.
They will be bulk billed services and open for extended hours, seven days a week.
Category 4 and 5 presentations to SA hospitals, non-life-threatening emergencies, represent over 40 per cent of presentations to emergency departments.
The Medicare UCCs will take pressure off stretched emergency departments across the state with patients instead accessing care in their local community.
Medicare UCCs will be established in:
- Adelaide City
- Mount Gambier
- Outer Northern Adelaide Metro
- Outer Southern Adelaide Metro
- Southern Adelaide Metro
The EOI will be led by the Adelaide Primary Health Network and Country SA Primary Health Network. Submissions will close on 24 March 2023.
Existing general practices, community health centres and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services are eligible to apply.
The Australian Government will continue to work closely with the South Australian Government and the Primary Health Networks to deliver the state's Medicare UCCs.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"Our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics will allow families in South Australia will get top-quality care from a nurse or a doctor without having to wait in a hospital emergency department.
"Medicare UCCs are just one way the Albanese Government is strengthening Medicare and reforming Australia's primary care system to ensure everyone can access affordable medical care.
"The UCCs will be bulk billed and open seven days a week, meaning SA families don't end up in the emergency department for non-life-threatening care."
