Gilmore MP Fiona Phillips announces Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will open in December

Ms Phillips made the announcement on Tuesday, September 19 at the Batemans Bay Hospital and said the clinic would ease pressure on local emergency departments.

"[It will] be much more convenient for our community," she said, "The centre will be completely bulk-billed meaning that people needing urgent but non-life-threatening care will save on out-of-pocket costs".

Australian provider ForHealth will establish the Medicare UCC which will operate at the Batemans Bay Hospital.

The opening of the centre is part of the government's promise to make it easier for people in NSW to get urgent treatment and take pressure off hospitals.

The NSW government committed $124 million across two years to establish 25 Urgent Care Services, including clinics, by mid-2025.

The clinic will be staffed by doctors and nurses and visiting patients will be bulk-billed. It will be open 7 days a week for extended hours and offer treatments for ailments including broken bones, cuts, wounds, insect bites, minor ear and eye problems and minor burns.

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In May 2022, Ms Phillips promised the Labor government would establish the Batemans Bay clinic at a time when the South Coast was in the middle of a "full-blown healthcare crisis".

"It will make a real difference in people's lives," she said at the time.

"It should be getting easier, not harder, to see a GP," she said. "But the out-of-pocket cost to see one is getting even higher."

Ms Phillips said on September 19 that 55 per cent of patients visiting the Batemans Bay Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care, "which the new UCC can now handle".

Minister for Health Mark Butler said the Medicare UCC would allow patients to see a doctor or nurse and access imaging and pathology services.

"The clinic will ease pressure on the Batemans Bay Hospital, allowing them to concentrate on higher priority emergencies," he said.

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