113 Bowral Street: $1.4 million medical centre approved for Bowral

Bowral has cemented its title as the Southern Highlands’ healthcare hub with a new medical centre to feature sleep therapy, dental clinic and a teaching space for students.

Bowral will gain a new $1.4 million medical centre after the development application was given the green light.

The new centre will include a range of medical facilities such as a sleep centre and dental clinic, and will also provide a teaching space for medical students.

The development application emphasised Bowral as the healthcare hub of the Southern Highlands and touted the town as the ideal location for the new facility. The clinic will be located within short walking distance of the Southern Highlands Private Hospital, at 113 Bowral St in Bowral.

The centre will be a one-stop shop for patients, encompassing sleep therapy, dental, pharmacy, and general practitioner services under the same roof. The clinic will also include tutorial rooms for medical students and interns from the University of Wollongong to be taught by local doctors.

113 Bowral St, Bowral will become the site of a new $1.4 million medical centre. Picture: Google Maps

The applicant emphasised the benefits to the region of having such a multi-faceted medical centre in Bowral.

“The clustering of such uses close to the hospital enables a natural synergy between medical consulting, teaching and practitioners,” the application reads.

According to the development application, the medical education space will consolidate and develop the “very important relationship” between UOW and Southern Highlands Private Hospital.

The new medical centre will be only 50 metres from the residential accommodation provided to visiting students, giving them a space close to the hospital in which to learn from local medical professionals.

The two-storey building will contain a pharmacy, three dental clinic consulting rooms, three sleep therapy consultation rooms, a large tutorial space, and two offices. It is slated to be open between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and will have 24 parking spaces on site.

The new medical centre on Bowral St will be sympathetic with the current streetscape.

Jenny Harper, Can Assist Southern Highlands president and former CEO of the Southern Highlands Private Hospital, said the medical centre would house seven types of non-surgical medical specialists under one roof.

“The specialist physician facility integrated into one centre will ensure improved and timely access to high quality medical specialists which will undoubtedly benefit the wellbeing and health of the Southern Highlands community,” she said.

Ms Harper said she had seen the innovative model work well in other communities which has shown it was an excellent model for managing care, particularly for those with debilitating illnesses.

The applicant stressed the medical centre would be an asset to the community because it reaffirms the regional focus on healthcare.

“It will further reinforce the emerging health cluster and opportunities for economic and social impacts for the district,” the application said.

It’s currently a vacant lot, but it will become a multifaceted medical centre and medical education facility.

Research undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows there are currently 324 healthcare businesses in the Wingecarribee Shire, with healthcare being one of the biggest employers in the region.

The medical centre will provide essential medical services to the Southern Highlands community, which has a rapidly ageing population. According to the ABS, a third of current Wingecarribee Shire residents are over the age of 55.

Staff at UOW were unable to comment on the collaboration due to the pressing Covid outbreak.