A Port Hedland clinic begins pre-employment health screenings in a boost for the town’s healthcare

A Hedland drug and alcohol testing clinic will begin delivering pre-employment medicals in a move that seeks to address the lack of healthcare services in town. SafeWork Health Hedland, located in Port Hedland Boulevard, will begin delivering the expanded service next week which will include standard pre-employment medicals, health surveillance, and mining and rail medicals. SafeWork Health State manager George Veaudry said the clinic had a long history of serving Port Hedland and he was excited to be able to provide the community with this expanded service. “It’s a key milestone for us in Port Hedland because of our long history that we’ve got there with our clients,” he said. “We’re looking forward to further servicing existing clients and being able to provide them with expert health advice and support.” SafeWork Health has been in Port Hedland since 2012, and Mr Veaudry said the company recently decided to put additional focus on occupational health. Pre-employment medicals were offered at Sonic Health before the clinic’s closure and Mr Veaudry said that SafeWork had made regional towns a company focus to fill a deficit in these types of healthcare services. “The main motivation for our focus on regional towns is availability,” he said. “Within the metro areas, the service is already there but in regional locations, there’s just as much demand for the service but I don’t think there is enough availability.” With the introduction of pre-employment medicals, SafeWork Health Hedland will look to expand its team to include an occupational health assessor, an occupational health nurse, and a supervisor The organisation has offices in Port Hedland, Darwin, Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide.