The ACT Government will co-locate a health centre with the new Molonglo Valley Medical Centre in Coombs to deliver public health services to the Molonglo community.
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith said the new centre will deliver on an election commitment to co-locate with an existing general practice to provide an integrated and co‑ordinated health service in the Molonglo Valley.
"The ACT Government had worked closely with the National Health Co-operative (NHC) to co-locate a walk-in health centre in Coombs before the NHC went into voluntary administration in June 2021.
"It was no doubt a relief to the Molonglo community when the Administrators announced in September that Palm Healthcare would be taking over the Coombs practice, to be known as the Molonglo Valley Medical Centre.
"Since that time, the Government has worked with Palm Healthcare to progress the health centre's co‑location in Coombs.
"I am pleased to say that agreement has been reached for the ACT Government to lease space from the Molonglo Valley Medical Centre to provide the local community with accessible, affordable healthcare closer to home.
"This is good news for the growing region and we look forward to getting these services up and running early next year.
"We expect that the new centre will primarily offer appointment-based services that complement the existing network of Walk In Centres and Community Health Centres, in line with our election commitment to deliver a mix of immediate and appointment-based care.
"We will work with Palm Healthcare, other local health care providers and the community to finalise the services to be offered through this innovative partnership.
"As we move out of lockdown, we will also re-engage with the community on the co-design of new Walk-in Health Centres in South Tuggeranong, the Inner South, West Belconnen and North Gungahlin to provide better public health care across Canberra's suburbs."
The ACT Health Directorate and Canberra Health Services are currently finalising plans for leasing options and transition of services to the Walk-in Health Centre.
