Heart of Australia Founder and cardiologist, Dr Rolf Gomes, is heading to Richmond Wednesday as the the town is earmarked for inclusion in the northern expansion of Heart of Australia's mobile clinical services.
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Heart of Australia currently operates two full-scale and one mini mobile medical clinics and Richmond will come online by mid 2020.
The clinics travel on a fixed route throughout rural and regional Queensland, bringing specialist medical services and the state-of-the-art equipment they require to the communities where they are needed such as Cloncurry and Hughenden.
Since Heart of Australia commenced operations in 2014, they have seen over 8,000 patients and helped save over 350 lives.
Dr Gomes said he would be meeting with members of the local communities, including local GPs in the coming days to discuss Heart of Australia's expansion plans.
"Local GPs are the best-informed people when it comes to understanding the local medical needs in the communities where they live and work," Dr Gomes said.
"Their knowledge and insights will be invaluable in helping Heart of Australia to develop plans for the new northern expansion, to ensure our plans reflect community-specific needs.
The trip will also allow the Heart of Australia team to identify ideal potential sites to host the heart truck during future visits in each of the towns, being ones that are highly visible and easy for local community members to access.
The team will also acquaint themselves with critical roads and streets, which will assist in developing routes that can accommodate an oversized heart truck.
Dr Gomes said the expansion of services to Richmond as well as Weipa, Childers and Biloela is being made possible thanks to a $12 million funding commitment from the Federal Government.
Dr Gomes said that this week's advance planning tour is an essential step in bringing the Heart of Australia services to new communities.
"This trip to speak with the communities is an essential step in the process to bring services to these towns," he said.
"Taking specialists to regional and remote towns over the past five years has helped save more than 350 lives, and with our expansion into new towns, this number will only continue to rise."
Heart of Australia's specialist medical services include cardiology, gynaecology, neurology, gastroenterology, urology, endocrinology and sleep and respiratory functions.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
