GP waiting list

By Melissa Meehan
THE paint dry, the garden manicured and the floors swept.
Yarra Glen is ready for its doctor.
The township celebrated the opening of the Yarra Glen Medical Clinic on Sunday with one minor problem – no doctor.
Led by Marjorie Woollands, the Yarra Glen Chamber of Commerce and the Yarra Glen and district Township Group have been working hard to find both a doctor and appropriate rooms to set up a clinic in town after it was left without a doctor in September last year.
On Sunday the proud group presented a refurbished Cameron House on Melba Highway as the premises for the Yarra Glen Medical Clinic.
Ms Woollands described the refurbished building as a “true Cinderella story”.
“Cinderella is now in her full gown and we think she’s pretty attractive,” Ms Woollands said.
“Hopefully, we will find a doctor who thinks the same way.”
Ms Woollands said that Yarra Glen had an estimated population of 3000 residents, and it was unacceptable for locals to be forced to travel to Maroondah Hospital or Healesville to see a doctor.
“I am aware of two elderly residents who have given up their heart medication because it is too difficult for them to get to the doctors,” Ms Woollands said.
“Which is understandable, the buses only come every two hours and Healesville is so busy that people can often not get an appointment for days.”
Dorothy Barber announced that the clinic would be managed by the Yarra Glen Medical Precinct Group, a not for profit organisation which will include a number of trusted local residents.
The group’s purpose will be to provide and manage suitable accommodation within Yarra Glen for medical practitioners and allied health professionals.
The group will also seek to access grants and funding to facilitate the provision of the building and any other needs.
Ms Barber said the group would look after both the short and long term needs of the town.
“It is our five year plan to apply to the Federal Government to be able to get funding to move the clinic into the town,” Ms Barber said.
“And we are working with Yarra Valley Community Health and the Eastern Ranges GP Association to find a doctor.”
The international doctor shortage has become a major hurdle for the people of Yarra Glen but all have vowed to continue their search.
“We are not going to wait to see what happens,” Ms Barber said.
“We will continue whatever we can do to attract a doctor to Yarra Glen.”
Without the funding to offer housing, equipment or incentives to entice a doctor to set up a practice in Yarra Glen, something other rural towns may have access to, it seems that Yarra Glen faces a challenge.
“That is why it is so important for the town to get behind us and the new doctor to make sure it becomes a financially viable practice,” Ms Barber said.