Bathurst's new medical centre WeCare Health officially open

WeCare Health officially opened on Monday, February 14, and is set to be a one-stop-shop for patients according to practice principal and medical lead Dr Pav Phanindra, who goes by Dr Pav.

Dr Pav said WeCare was developed to meet the needs of a rural community by supplying as many services as possible.

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"The key here is that Bathurst is expanding ... working in the emergency department what I've noticed is that there's such a huge rush on the weekend to see a doctor," he said.

"They can't see a doctor because most practices are open from 8am until 11am or 12pm and on Sundays nothing is open except for the after hours clinic which gets inundated with people.

"This is a seven-day service."

WeCare will be open from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am until 5pm on weekends, covering a large range of procedures.

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In addition to four consultation rooms with the general practitioners [GPs] offering standard services, the practice features a procedure room covering a range of treatments including different skin procedures, circumcisions and fractures.

WeCare also has a pathology room and a nursing space, all of which Dr Pav hopes will alleviate the congestion at the hospital.

"We're here to compliment what there already is in Bathurst," he said.

"There's no practice in town that actually fixes fractures but we can.

"We've got a dedicated nurse practitioner, she specialises in fracture treatment, we have two doctors with over 40 years experience and I have almost 20 years experience.

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"The people who have come together compliment each other."

WeCare Health will operate on a mixed-billing basis.

Patients under the age of 16 and over the age of 64 will be bulk-billed, all other ages pay on the day and all procedures will be privately billed.

Located at the old Durham Street Veterinary Clinic premises, WeCare is ideally located with easy access to the Bathurst Hospital if required.

The practice features 11 parking spaces, wheelchair access, a self-contained unit for storage and accommodation for the staff if ever needed, and there's still room to expand.

Dr Pav also mentors junior doctors through his role as director of prevocational educational training and he plans to continue doing so, encouraging aspiring doctors to work in rural towns.

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