8,000 patients will soon be left without a local GP after Bridgewater’s Greenpoint Medical Centre announced its closure earlier this month, a situation Federal Labor Lyons MP Brian Mitchell knew was coming for more than a year.
Mitchell has revealed that he was aware of the clinic’s dire situation almost a year before its closure after its owners, IPN Medical Services, contacted him in December 2022 for a ‘tour of the facilities’ that turned into a meeting regarding the clinic’s future.
During this meeting, IPN executives talked about the possibility of closing the clinic and asked for Federal Government help in the form of $800,000 to hire three locums.
Mitchell said he told the executives that the funding was ‘unlikely’ but conveyed IPN’s request to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, who declined it, saying that the Health Department does not offer financial assistance.
Mitchell believes that the government should address the healthcare gap, but Minister Butler argued that private practice issues fall outside the purview of the federal government.
The meeting with IPN regarding the clinic’s future was confidential, according to Mitchell, who was asked to remove a social media post about it by the health giant shortly after to avoid causing panic in the community.
Despite IPN’s parent company Sonic Healthcare making significant $1.5 billion profits in 2022, it is believed IPN has determined Greenpoint to be financially unviable.
IPN is yet to make any further comments on the closure discussions but acknowledges ongoing government-level discussions.
Tasmanian Health Minister Guy Barnett is understood to have met with Greenpoint patients and health organisations to explore potential solutions for the community’s healthcare needs in the future.
