Clermont Country Practice closing down within six months

The medical practice of a small Central Queensland town has announced it will soon close down, leaving the community with only one doctor to cover both the hospital and the medical practice.

The medical practice of a small Central Queensland town has announced it will soon close down, leaving the community with only one doctor to cover both the hospital and the medical practice.

The Clermont Country Practice said it would close down in the next few months after five years of loyal service to the town.

The Clermont community has had long standing issues with finding permanent doctors, as they are required by the department to work at both the hospital and the medical practice.

The Country Practice came to town in 2019, at a time where there was no permanent doctors in the town.

In a video posted to the practice’s Facebook page, Dr Sarah Mclay explained the decision to close the business came after being “burned out” by the pressure of running the business and catering to the many medical needs of Clermont.

Dr Sarah McLay, founder of the Clermont Country Practice located in Clermont, Isaac region Queensland. Clermont Country Practice commenced Pic: Julie Turner

Dr McLay added that it felt impossible to attract more doctors to the town as well as mentioned the challenge for the practice to be financially viable.

This is despite the department offering a $500,000 Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS), allowing a fully qualified GP to train in the town in 2021.

“The government has plans but they’re not telling us what that will look like,” Dr Mclay said.

“And it’s very hard to sustain a business in the face of such uncertainty.”

She also mentioned the inability for the public and private sectors to be “collaborative” in the town.

Clermont resident Carolyn Franzmann said the news of the practice closing down was “terrible” to the town as it would mean that there would be only one doctor left to cover both the hospital and the Clermont Doctors Surgery, Dr Tim Lane.

“We will be in the same situation as we were back five or six years ago,” she said.

“Now Dr Tim will be completely worn out and the Clairemont residents will have no other option but to go out of town for their medical support.”

Clermont resident Carolyn Franzmann reacted to the closure of the Clermont Country Practice. Picture: Facebook

The other options to residents to get to a GP outside of Clermont would be attending practices in Moranbah or Emerald which are both well over an hour’s drive.

Ms Franzmann said she understood the difficulty of running a practice with cost of living increases having a bigger impact in rural communities.

“The cost of everything out here is more expensive than it is in the city, except for rent,” she said.

She added that on top of face-to-face services ending, the closure of Dr McLay’s practice would also mean an end to the telehealth options she advertised.

Dr Sarah McLay, founder of the Clermont Country Practice located in Clermont, Isaac region Queensland. Clermont Country Practice commenced Pic Julie Turner

Clermont Leo Hotel and Motel admin officer Kate Masters said she was very new to town, but that the news of a practice closing down so soon after she arrived made it “very worrying”, as it was “already hard to get appointments”.

“I assume it will get more and more difficult,” she said.

Clermont Country Practice stated that they would keep operating three days a week for the next four to six months before ultimately closing down.

A number of services are to cease to function as early as June this year, such as the blood collection services, or the possibility to use bulk billing.

“If you are unable to afford our fees, we will support you to transfer your records to your preferred provider,” the practice stated.

This publication has reached out to Clermont Country Practice and Clermont Doctors Surgery for comment, but they did not provide an answer within deadline.