Released 22/06/2021
Yesterday evening, the National Health Co-operative (NHC) announced that it has entered into voluntary administration and an Administrator has been appointed.
The NHC is an important model of healthcare and a major contributor to bulk billing services in the ACT, providing affordable and accessible healthcare to thousands of Canberrans. We understand the NHC will continue to trade on a business-as-usual basis for the time being, with no disruption to services.
The ACT Government has been working collaboratively with the NHC towards delivering a new Walk-in Health Centre in Coombs, offering maternal and child health services in the growing Molonglo region.
As announced by ACT Labor during the election campaign, the Centre was planned to be co-located with NHC’s Coombs GP clinic. This partnership presented an opportunity to deliver better integration of care with general practice and the Walk-in Health Centre was scheduled to open in July 2021 with a focus on maternal, child and family health services.
Unfortunately, the NHC Board’s considerations over recent weeks have meant that the ACT Government could not enter into the planned sublease and undertake the required fit-out of the facility.
However, the ACT Government remains absolutely committed to delivering the Walk-in Health Centre in Coombs, providing children and their families with accessible, affordable healthcare closer to home.
ACT Government officials have already held initial discussions with the administrator to explore what options are available to enable us to establish the new Centre as quickly as possible.
Ongoing work with the administrator and the landlord will help the Government to understand the proposed continuation of services in Coombs and the availability of space in the current building.
We will continue to update the Molonglo community and other stakeholders over the coming weeks as this work continues.
- Statement ends -
Rachel Stephen-Smith, MLA | Media Releases