Shellharbour Medicare Urgent Care Clinic now open

The Albanese Government is delivering for residents in Shellharbour with the opening of the Shellharbour Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
 
Located at 9-25 Captain Cook Drive, Barrack Heights, the new Shellharbour Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is now open extended hours, seven days a week.
 
No appointment is needed, patients can walk in and all services are bulk billed.
 
The highly trained doctors and nurses are equipped to treat a range of conditions and injuries that need urgent attention but aren’t life threatening, including cuts, viral infections, or a sprained ankle.
 
Data from the NSW Bureau of Health shows the Albanese Government’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across New South Wales are easing pressure on NSW hospitals. Semi-urgent presentations to NSW emergency departments have dropped by 5.1 per cent while non-urgent presentations have dropped by 8.7 per cent. 
 
The clinic will join the existing network of 34 existing Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across New South Wales with one additional clinic to be established in the state in 2025-26.
 
This is part of the Albanese Government’s commitment to deliver more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across the country with 4 out of 5 Australians to live within a 20-minute drive from their local clinic.
 
Labor’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have already seen over 2.5 million presentations since the first sites opened in June 2023, including over 534,300 presentations to clinics in New South Wales.
 
Across NSW, over one in four of these were patients aged under 15 years old, more than one in four were on weekends, and over one in five were weekday after hours visits (at or after 5pm).
 
The Shellharbour Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is commissioned by South Eastern New South Wales Primary Health Network.

Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
 
“The Shellharbour Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is a game changer for families in the Shellharbour region.”
 
“This clinic is a key part of the Albanese Government’s commitment to strengthen Medicare and make health care more accessible and affordable.
 
“This new data shows Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are taking the pressure off New South Wales hospitals and making sure patients can get the care they need when they need it.”
 
Quotes attributable to Carol Berry MP, Member for Whitlam:
  
“This Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will make a real difference for locals by providing convenient, bulk billed urgent care right here in the heart of Shellharbour.”
 
“The opening of the clinic is a huge win for our community, taking the pressure off the emergency department at Shellharbour Hospital.”