The Prime Minister, Federal Minister for Health and the South Australian Minister for Health today announced the appointment of the construction firms who will build the $25 million Modbury GP Plus Super Clinic and Noarlunga GP Super Clinic. Work will soon commence, with the first stage of the Noarlunga clinic complete in September of this year, and the first stage of the Modbury clinic finished the following month.
Artist impressions were released today of the main Modbury clinic at Tea Tree Plaza which will have a floor space of 2,558 square metres and will also include a new four level car park.
GP Plus centres allow people to receive care close to home, with a range of services including specialist clinics, physiotherapy, chronic disease management and after-hours GP clinics.
The Modbury centre - which will be located on two sites on Smart Road and Gilles Crescent - will boost health services available to residents of Adelaide's north eastern suburbs. It will have five GP consulting rooms, two clinical treatment rooms, six specialist clinic rooms, nine allied health clinic rooms, fourteen dental chairs, plus meeting and training space.
Adelaide UniCare will provide GP services at the clinic with a focus on patients without a GP, patients with chronic health problems, older and disadvantaged people and indigenous, refugee and migrant groups.
The Noarlunga GP Plus Super Clinic will be built between the Noarlunga hospital and Health Village. It will have five GP consulting rooms, 5 minor procedure rooms and 25 specialists' consulting rooms for services including child health, chronic disease programs, mental health and sexual health. Dental services will also be available, along with an Aboriginal Health service with four consulting rooms.
The two $25 million centres are the result of a partnership between the Commonwealth and State Governments signed last year by the Prime Minister and SA Health Minister John Hill.
The Prime Minister said: "GP Super Clinics are essential to building a stronger, more effective primary health care system. Their focus on keeping people healthier for longer is an essential part of improving the health outcomes for all Australians."
Health Minister Nicola Roxon added, "These clinics are part of Government's strategy to help address the growing need in South Australia for access to affordable, high quality, comprehensive and integrated primary care services which are convenient and accessible.
"These new clinics will help ensure South Australians have access to the health care they need, where and when they need it," she said.
Minister Hill says "GP Plus centres are set to be a cornerstone of our primary health system.
"They're good for patients, who can get treatment at convenient, modern and family-friendly centres.
"They're also good for the whole health system as their focus on keeping people healthy and out of hospital also frees up capacity in our busy Emergency Departments."
Construction of the first stage at Tea Tree Gully begins this month and will be complete in October 2010, with the second stage to be complete by October 2011. The Gilles Plains site will be constructed from April 2010 to May 2011.
Following rigorous tendering processes, the contract to build the Modbury GP Plus Centre has been awarded to Badge Constructions SA Pty Ltd, while the contract to build the Noarlunga GP Plus Super Clinic has been awarded to Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd.
The Australian Government is also partnering with Adelaide UniCare on a $7.5 million Super Clinic at Playford North.
GP Plus Health Care Centres have already been opened at Aldinga and Woodville, and two more are being built in Marion and Elizabeth.
GP Super Clinics deliver on an election commitment of the Rudd Government to provide primary health care services where they are most needed. $275 million has been allocated to establish 36 GP Super Clinics in communities right around the country.