Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opens Hobart’s first bulk-billed urgent care clinic on Bathurst St

Tassie boy Ryder Peters has had an eventful week with an unexpected ending. After a scooter mishap landed him in Hobart’s urgent care clinic – he got to meet the Prime Minister.

Minister for Housing, Homelessness, and Small Business, Julie Collins, Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, Andrew Wilkie MP and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the official opening of the Hobart Urgent Care Clinic. Picture: Chris Kidd

New Norfolk mum Sarah Polzin has high praise for the care her son received at Hobart’s new urgent care clinic.

The fracture received by 9-year-old Ryder is exactly the type of urgent case the Bathurst St clinic is designed to treat.

“He was riding his scooter when he hit a bump and fell off, that was on Monday, I just thought it was bruised but on Tuesday it was still swollen so we brought him in,” Ms Polzin said.

Ryder’s painful injury was promptly diagnosed and treated at the clinic at Your Hobart Doctor in Bathurst St.

“Everything was done here. I didn’t know it was going to be done here. It was x-rayed, plastered, and it was one-and-a-half hours and we were out the door,” Ms Polzin said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets patient Ryder Peters 9 at the official opening of the Hobart Urgent Care Clinic. Picture: Chris Kidd

Ms Polzin said it was a relief to avoid a potential trip to the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department.

“It’s great to have this available, to have that stepping stone. I highly recommend it to anyone,” she said.

The new Hobart clinic is one of four to be established in Tasmania – two in the south, one in Launceston and one in the north-west.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Medical Director Mark Baldock at the official opening of the Hobart Urgent Care Clinic. Picture: Chris Kidd

The fully-bulk billed clinics offer medical care illnesses and injuries that don’t need a trip to the ED, but cannot wait for a regular appointment with a GP.

Launching the clinic on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the service would allow patients like Ryder avoid lengthy and unnecessary visits to the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department.

“The great thing about this urgent care clinic here is you don’t need your credit card, you just need your Medicare card,” Mr Albanese said.

A second Hobart Medicare urgent care clinic, at Ochre Medical Centre in Liverpool St, is due to open next month.

Originally published as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opens Hobart’s first bulk-billed urgent care clinic on Bathurst St