Marking Doctor Ross Wilson’s healthy contribution

Doctor Ross Wilson – described as your “typical old-fashioned rural GP” – arrived in Bathurst with his family from Corowa on April 1, 1988 and has, in the intervening years, become an integral part of Bathurst and surrounding communities, doing everything from general practice to obstetrics, anaesthetics, surgery and procedures.

Ochre Health Medical Centre, where Dr Wilson began practising in 2015, has decided to mark his milestone with this article. 

Ochre Health Medical Centre practice manager Donna Corby said Dr Wilson started with the George Street Medical Practice after arriving in town, then began doing visiting medical officer (VMO) and obstetric work with Bathurst Base Hospital, which continues today.

“Over the last 30 years he has delivered thousands of babies and now is delivering the next generation of babies,” she said.

Mrs Corby said Dr Wilson started a morning clinic at St Stanislaus’ College, which he still provides today, and trained the school’s swimmers in the past.

Dr Wilson also started a monthly clinic at the villages of Hill End and Sofala, providing healthcare to rural patients who might not otherwise see a doctor regularly.

He also provided locum relief at locations including Bourke in far west NSW; Condobolin, where Mrs Corby said he started working for Ochre Recruitment and the original founders of Ochre; and at Kununurra and Broome in remote northern Western Australia.

“He is always on hand to help St John’s Ambulance at the Mount Panorama races,” Mrs Corby said.

Dr Wilson was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2007 for his work in general practice and, in 2003, was named the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Australian GP of the Year. 

“He shows no sign of slowing down, as he does three days a week at Ochre Medical Centre as well as being director of rural training for the University of Western Sydney,” Mrs Corby said.

“He is a tireless worker - always the first person to put his hand up when help is required.”

In Dr Wilson’s spare time, he runs a Suffolk and Southdown sheep stud with his wife, Jeannette, and shows all over NSW, the ACT and Victoria.

When he was interviewed by the Advocate in 2007 when he was awarded his OAM, Dr Wilson said he had never looked back after deciding to be a GP.

“In general practice you never know what the next thing through your door will be,” he said. “I like the flexibility, the wholeness, the community.”