A new urgent care clinic will open in Kingston next month, aiming to ease pressure on Hobart’s emergency department.
Ochre Health will run the clinic at Channel Court after winning a federal government tender, with doors expected to open in February.
The clinic will bulk-bill all patients, operate seven days a week from 8am to 10pm and accept walk-ins only.
Federal minister Julie Collins announced the operator on Thursday, delivering on a federal Labor election promise for the Kingborough area.
Ochre already runs a similar clinic on Liverpool Street in Hobart, which has treated more than 21,000 patients since late 2023.
The company’s lead urgent care doctor Dr Jane Gorman said about half of those patients told staff they would otherwise have gone to the emergency department.
She said the clinics aim to fully treat patients, rather than patching them up and referring them back to a GP.
“We try to actually fix the total of what the patient’s presenting with, rather than just doing a small bit and then kicking the can down the road for the GP to deal with down the track,” Dr Gorman said.
She said only 2-3% of patients need transferring to hospital – typically heart attacks, children with serious wounds or surgical cases.
The Kingston clinic will operate longer hours than the Hobart site, which closes at 5pm.
Primary Health Tasmania’s Susan Powell said the clinic would give people another option when they were unable to get an appointment with their regular GP.
Kingston is one of three new urgent care clinics funded by Canberra, alongside Burnie and Sorell.
Six clinics are already operating across the state in Devonport, Launceston, Bridgewater and Hobart.
The Burnie clinic is also expected to open before July.
