On Friday, July 19, guests and staff gathered to officially open Quantum Medical Centre Barham. The opening of the facility under new management was a celebration of the work and dedication to retain medical services in the Barham facility and a positive step towards a bright future with a team dedicated to quality care.

Quantum Medical Centre Barham is the first GP clinic established under the mother company Quantum Clinical Care. Quantum Clinical Care was formed by Dr Shekhar Harlapur, a GP and an Emergency Physician from Geelong, together with Dr Tharindu Uyanage (GP/Emergency Physician) and Dr Nishan Silva (GP), who happen to be good friends of Drs Chameera and Anusha; the local doctors in Barham. Further, Dr Tharindu Uyanage has worked in Barham before for almost a year.

The official opening took place with the presence of the clinic staff, Quantum directors, Local Health Trust, patients and other well-wishers. At this point of joy and relief to the local community, many reflected upon the recent few months of uncertainty and doubt.

With the announcement that Ochre Health was leaving Barham due to a restructure of the VMO contract with the Murrumbidgee Health managed Barham Hospital, the future of the clinic had been under a cloud. Thankfully, a united stance of the doctors, staff and Local Health Medical Trust ensured a bright future was to come.

“We were invited to go elsewhere, but Anusha and I got together and talked, and we didn’t want to go anywhere,” said Dr Chameera Akurugoda.

“We’ve been here five years, and it’s an amazing community.

“We are really happy with the community and the workplace, and the working staff were amazing. They said we are not leaving if you are not leaving.

“The Local Health Medical Trust were amazing; they reassured us they would find someone. The new owners came and Ochre Health was really helpful in ensuring a smooth transition.

“The new owners are three amazing doctors. I know them personally and have worked with them, and the most important thing is they have worked in rural communities, so they understand what rural practice is about – quality of care is the most important thing.”

Dr Anusha Fernando said life in the community was a rewarding experience.

“This is my 22nd year in my clinical career working as a doctor.

“I have worked in so many places, it’s all about who you’re working with and what you do. The work time here is more rewarding, and you can see the outcomes of the patients because you are living in a smaller community.

“I think I can provide better quality care to our patients and the local community, to look after them. I feel I can do more of that being a rural doctor.

“If you’re happy and comfortable in one place, why do you leave?”

Quantum Barham’s clinic manager Kerri Hird said teamwork had a big part to play in the positive outcome.

“We believed if we stuck together as a team, something good would come.

“When Chameera and Anusha said they wanted to stay, that was a done deal with everybody.

“There has been an awesome amount of support from the trust, from Ochre and from the community.

“I never had a doubt we would get somewhere, but it’s been excellent and the new management have been a dream to work with.

“I think the new owners have brought a vibrancy with them, they are all health professionals and bring a great skill set.

“We hope to have two new doctors starting within the year. That would give us four doctors in town.

“We’ve all seen what happens when other local communities have lost doctors, and the influx of patients. I can only imagine what would happen if we weren’t here at all, not to mention the aged care facilities, with Chameera and Anusha servicing Murray Haven each week and Chameera goes out to Edward River Gardens every four weeks.”

Local Health Medical Trust president Maree Telford was thrilled to have the new management team.

“The shock transition of the VMO contract at the hospital was devastating for the trust.

“We’d actually worked for about 18 months prior to that, making sure it was all going smoothly.

“It was such a shock due to the change of the contract, so we rallied and tried to work out what to do. We met with politicians and NSW Health but we soon learnt it was a much bigger picture than just the hospital. Our focus pretty quickly became the medical centre.

“It brought lots of challenges and lots of meetings and brainstorming, I was very grateful to have Kerry Stirling with her medical background and Robin May with her financial background, who are both original members of the trust.

“We were different to other communities; we had doctors, we just had to keep them.

“Ochre were really supportive of the process and they wanted to help us basically find a replacement for them.

“We had to push a lot behind the scenes.

“To have three applicants for the management was a feather in our cap. We’ve got everything we required, we just needed someone to run the business.

“The trust, on behalf of the community, owns this fabulous facility; we’re not running an old rundown house trying to put doctors in; we’ve got beautiful modern facilities.

“It’s been so important to keep it for the community, and you know the old thing – if you go out of town for your medical services, you do your shopping as well.”

The new operators expressed their ambitions to expand the clinic further to improve the quality of care and reduce waiting times. As an immediate effort, they have made available multiple slots of telehealth appointments for urgent scripts, letters and other urgent needs to reduce the wait. They are confident that they will be able to attract more doctors, nurses and other staff necessary to provide the level of care the local community needs at an optimum quality.

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This article appeared in  The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 25 July 2024.