Indigenous-owned health clinic to ease pain of Port Hedland GP shortage

In a huge boost for Port Hedland healthcare, it has just been announced a new Indigenous-owned health clinic will open in town. The practice which will be located on Tonkin Street will be run by Marlu Health and will fill the void left after Sonic Health’s closure in June. The new clinic will offer GP services, psychology and mental health services, pre-employment medicals, occupational health, employee assistance programs, and pathology collection services. Director of medical and health services Dr Lincoln Luk said the new clinic would provide a necessary service to a community that was in need of quality healthcare. “We are looking forward to providing a range of services to the Hedland community, and it was important for us to establish our clinic in South Hedland,” he said. We have not previously been a GP provider and were not looking to do so, but we saw the need in Hedland and felt that it was our civic responsibility to help. “Country GPs are exceedingly difficult to replace, and it is terrific that we have one GP joining Marlu Health, while we are also doing our best to source a second GP for the town. The Port Hedland community was rocked by Sonic Health’s recent closure, and Mayor Peter Carter said the Town had worked hard to find a replacement for its services. “The closure of the Sonic Healthcare clinic left us in a precarious position with only one GP clinic in Port Hedland, and none in South,” he said. “The Town has been involved in discussions with Marlu Health for some time and it’s great to see they will be offering a range of services in South Hedland.” Housing remains one of the biggest barriers in town to attracting medical professionals, and the new clinic will provide Marlu Health GPs with facilitated housing.