Since relocating to the main street of Narrabri in March 2019, Bridge Medical Centre has continued to expand its capabilities.
Now, a little more than two years later, the practice has doubled its number of available doctors and added on both full-time and part-time nursing staff.
In 2019, they only had two GPs, but now the team features two female and two male doctors.
Back then they also had no nursing staff, but the practice now employs two full-timers and one part-timer.
Even still, Bridge Medical is continuing to welcome more health professionals, with Drs Rohana and Dilini saying they’re big on encouraging new doctors to join the team “both for their own professional development as well as to help meet the needs of a large rural community”.
A number of new faces have also joined the reception and administration teams.
With this staffing increase in the last two years has come a boost in practice capabilities, with several doctors qualified in different specialist areas and holding industry-recognised accreditations.
Some of the areas of expertise practiced at Bridge Medical include chronic disease management, skin examinations and minor surgical procedures.
The practice is also investing into the employment medical niche, with the team now able to conduct coal order 43s, category 1,2 and 3 rail medicals, drug and alcohol instant screen tests, pre-employment medicals and license renewal medicals such as CASA pilot licenses.
To keep up with this exponential growth, Bridge Medical has recently undergone renovations, with construction finishing earlier this month.
Practice manager, Fiona Redfern, says the makeover has been amazing.
“It took quite a bit of work, since the construction broke through existing brick walls and had to turn an old restaurant kitchen into new rooms and a hallway,” she said.
“But the finished result is great, and we’re excited to welcome new patients to our practice.”
The centre, on the corner of Maitland Street and Dewhurst Street, now features three fully refurbished consulting rooms.
These rooms will be mainly used for employment and licencing medicals, as well was functional capacity assessments.
And one of the new rooms also features a sound-proof audio booth for hearing tests too.
“If organisations require hearing screening of their staff, Bridge Medical now has a custom-built trailer which contains two more soundproof booths,” Mrs Redfern said.
“This trailer can be towed offsite to a location that may better suit a client’s needs, minimising downtime for staff travel.”
This compact testing trailer is located in the Bridge Medical car park, where it stays until it’s booked out.
“We can run two tests at once from the unit, which saves time,” Mrs Redfern added.
Over the last two years, Bridge Medical has increased its patient list by about 600 people.
But the practice is always welcoming more.
To book an appointment, get in touch with Bridge Medical on (02) 6792 1055, or 0419 773 921 for employment medicals, or head to their website or Facebook page.
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