Dr Clare Bottcher has departed the clinic where she has treated local patients for over 26 years. In an emotional farewell with clinic staff, Dr Bottcher recalled her time serving the locals of her own hometown, alongside “great mentors” and “wonderful custodians of this town”.
After completing her medical degree at Monash University in 1990 and further medical study in the UK, Dr Bottcher retuned to her roots and began practicing with Dr Peter Graham at Cohuna Clinic in October 1997, and also worked at the hospital, retirement village and nursing home.
Initially full-time, when she and husband, Craig, had their three children, she combined part-time work in Cohuna and Echuca for a more manageable lifestyle. Since then, she has worked regularly one day a week at Cohuna Clinic, and when her children were old enough, returned to on-call work at the hospital.
A local through and through, she recognised the value of being a general practitioner in a small-town environment and acknowledged the role the local doctors played in the town and in encouraging those keen on being a rural generalist.
“I got to come and work in my hometown,” Dr Bottcher said. “That’s the sort of medicine I wanted to practice – to be a rural generalist.
“When I came back, they were doing all of that, doing surgery, anaesthetics, babies, everything – and I was loving it. But when I had my family, life had to change up quite a lot, and so I got the best of both worlds, I got to work here and in Echuca.
“That sort of thing – country life, country general practice – has been a cornerstone of what being a GP here is. It’s been a wonderful career.”
Dr Bottcher might be finished at the clinic in Cohuna, but she is far from retiring. As a partner at an Echuca practice for the past 12 years, Dr Bottcher’s commitments have increased and she had to make the difficult decision to leave her role at Cohuna.
“It was a very hard decision, very emotional,” she said, trying hard not to cry as she went on to talk about the people she will miss – both colleagues and patients.
“I would like to thank all the staff here over many years. They’ve always been so supportive, the nurses up at the hospital too. This practice, being the only practice in town, I’ve got enormous respect for the staff and the GPs that have worked with me over the years. That’s the reason I keep coming back, apart from the people that I love. I love this country lifestyle and I love the country patients.”
While her role at Ochre Medical Centre Cohuna has ended, Dr Bottcher won’t be a stranger to town. Whether it’s visiting family here or taking the odd shift at the hospital, you will still see her from time to time.
From a personal point of view, I feel honoured to write this farewell piece to Dr Bottcher. Just four days into her new role in Cohuna in 1997, I ‘welcomed’ her to town when she delivered my baby, Jordan – her first delivery in Cohuna. Now, just over 26 years later, I am honoured to ‘farewell’ Dr Bottcher with this article.
Thank you, Dr Bottcher, from my family and from the people of Cohuna and district.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 8 February 2024.
