Peter Jean April 17, 2012
A new medical practice and training facility at the University of Canberra will be the ''hub'' for a $15 million super clinic that will also have branches in Gungahlin and Tuggeranong.
Dozens of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals will be employed at three sites under agreements signed between the federal government, Ochre Health and the University of Canberra.
The federal government announced yesterday a new four-storey health building would be built on the Ginninderra Drive side of the University of Canberra campus.
A clinic operated by Ochre Health would take up two floors and employ up to 14 doctors and 10 other health professionals.
The clinic was expected to open in late next year and would provide on-site pharmacy, pathology and imaging services.
The other two floors of the building would house training facilities for the university.
Ochre also planned to open a primary care clinic in Casey.
Ochre's existing practice at Calwell, which already has nine GPs, would benefit from the addition of allied health services and shared IT with the other two sites.
University of Canberra vice-chancellor Professor Stephen Parker said the super clinic and the proposed new ACT sub-acute hospital would help turn the university into a major health hub.
''There is huge potential in bringing together a super clinic, hospital and our own Faculty of Health on one site to create a health hub,'' Professor Parker said.
''We have experience delivering health services to the community through our own clinics and we have experience delivering major building projects on time and on budget.
Ochre Health chief operating officer John Burns said the super clinic would have a strong focus on providing training places for aspiring medical and allied health professionals.
Federal Labor MPs Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh said the three super clinic campuses would provide services tailored to the needs of the local communities in which they were located.