The Greens say Cohealth clinics need long term funding to stay open – not just the band-aids and crumbs offered by Labor today.
The Federal government today announced $1.5 million to keep Kensington, Fitzroy and Collingwood cohealth GP clinics open only for another 12 months – following huge community pressure on Labor and concerns that the issue would become a massive headache for Labor in a state election year.
But the funding only keeps the clinics open for 12 months – just past the state election – and there is still no long-term solution to ensure that community health GP clinics can stay open and sustainable into the future. Medicare rebates continue to be insufficient to cover the care of complex and vulnerable patients that community health often caters for.
Last October, cohealth announced they would have to close GP and counselling services at these sites by December 16, the the entire Collingwood site permanently in 2026, due to insufficient funding from both federal and state governments.
Since the announcement, the Greens at all levels of government joined with the community to run a huge campaign to pressure Labor to deliver funding to keep cohealth open.
Hundreds of people attended community meetings in Richmond and Kensington, and the Greens built a community petition of almost 8,000 local signatures as well as brought questions and motions before the state and Federal Parliaments.
Labor has been on the back foot since then and today has offered a short-term bandaid, while continuing to ignore the long-term reform that the community health sector needs.
Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:
“It is only because of the huge pressure from the community and the Greens that Labor is finally providing this funding – but short-term funding is only a band-aid. Community health needs long-term funding security to ensure our GP clinics can stay open and continue to provide free healthcare to those who need it most in our community”.
Victorian Greens Member for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“Labor needs to stop breadcrumbing our community health centres and come to the table with long term sustainable funding and infrastructure money for Collingwood. These short term funding injections show that Labor doesn’t understand our community. Doctors, staff and patients deserve certainty and security that our community health centres will remain open beyond the next election.”