Following the knock-on effects from the mining downturn, a small town in north Queensland is struggling to find a permanent doctor for their medical centre.
The Nebo Medical Centre opened its doors in 2011, but due to a range of issues including the mining downturn and a dwindling population — the estimated permanent resident population is 470 — they have struggled to keep doctors.
Concerned for the wellbeing of the community, local resident Joy Cooper started up the Nebo Medical Action Group two years ago and is its president.
“The community saw a need for the medical centre to stay open,” she said.
Isaac Regional Council owns the building, but the action group has been working with the local community, businesses and the mines and have fundraised to fit the medical centre with equipment.
At one stage, the council put out tenders and an occupational health practice took it on for 12 months.
“They did everything they possibly could but once the mining downturn hit, it made it that little bit harder, so when they decided they couldn’t cope anymore, the community decided to step in,” she said.
Permanent doctor will save travel to coast
At present Nebo locals travel 100 kilometres to see a doctor in Mackay.
“We also lost a community health nurse through retirement, so at the moment we have no community health nurse for baby clinics and we are having a bit of a baby boom at the moment,” Ms Cooper said.
“So with a doctor here, it will save the mums from having to pack up and go to town and they could just come up, especially when it comes to immunisations and those sorts of things.”
But she said their biggest hurdle at the moment was betting more locals interested in using the facility.
“It’s just getting the communication out there, and also consistency [because] they like to have the same doctor, not a different doctor every week,” Ms Cooper said.
She added that having a medical centre in town was a gateway to encouraging more infrastructure in the community.
“We have a great infrastructure [and] if we don’t support it we’ll lose it,” she said.
The Nebo Medical Action Group is working alongside Central Queensland Rural Health to find a doctor for the town.
CEO Sandra Corfield said they were hopeful the centre would have a doctor within the next month.
“But it depends on Commonwealth contracts, the doctors’ commitments and the response from the community,” Ms Corfield said.
She said a doctor would provide an outreach service one day a week, and would most likely travel from Mackay.
“Not everyone is going to get sick on the same day but there are a lot of things you go to a doctor for in a planned way,” she said.
“There is currently interest from a physio, and the community is currently looking at their speech therapy needs.
“There are counselling services, massaging services and there’s a dentist who is interested in providing services, so we’re currently looking how to fund a dental chair.”
Ms Corfield said having a doctor available to people in Nebo was important, but reminded people that whatever services came to town would need to be supported by the community if they were going to stay.