Urgent care arrives for Torquay residents

TORQUAY’S Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has officially opened, delivering free, walk-in urgent care for non-life-threatening conditions and easing pressure on Geelong’s emergency department.

The new clinic is operating from 85 Surf Coast Highway and is open seven days a week with extended hours, allowing patients to attend without an appointment and receive fully bulk-billed care.

It is designed to treat a range of non-life-threatening conditions and injuries that need urgent attention, such as cuts, viral infections and sprains.

The service is expected to play a significant role in reducing demand at Geelong Hospital, where about 33 per cent of emergency department presentations in 2023–24 were classified as semi-urgent or non-urgent.

Federal Health Minister, Mark Butler, said the clinic would improve access to timely care close to home.

“Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are a game changer, and now even more Victorians will get the benefit of timely, free urgent health care on their doorstep,” he said.

Corangamite federal member, Libby Coker, said the opening marked the delivery of a key commitment to the Surf Coast community and a huge win for the local health system.

“We promised to deliver a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for the Torquay community – and now, that promise is a reality.

“This clinic will make a real difference for locals by providing convenient, urgent treatment. No appointments needed, patients can just walk in, and all services are bulk billed.

“This would not have been possible without the support of our local community, who fought hard to secure a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic close to home.”

The Torquay clinic joins a network of 20 Medicare Urgent Care Clinic operating across Victoria, with a further eight planned to open statewide in 2025–26.

Nationally, the network has recorded more than 2.2 million patient presentations since opening in June 2023, including more than 474,800 in Victoria.

The Torquay clinic has been commissioned by the Western Victoria Primary Health Network and is operated by ForHealth, a national primary health provider with experience delivering urgent care services across dozens of clinics.

It will initially operate up to 10 hours a day, with plans to expand to 14 hours a day by March 2026.