Patients in Northam will soon feel the benefits of improved facilities at Northam Family Practice after it was selected for a $110,000 Federal Government grant.
The grant will be used by Northam Family Practice to do the following:
- Increase the size of the practice by using the current storage area of the leased building to include 3 new consulting rooms, an additional waiting room, multidisciplinary therapy room, kitchen, disabled bathroom
- Extend the current reception area to enclose the existing courtyard and install an internal disable chair lift to connect the building, which is currently on two different levels
- Build a new disabled ramp in line with current compliance codes and extended to service both entry doors
- Furnish each new room with table, chairs, computer, printer, phones and internet connections as well as hand basins suitable for medical use. A basic kitchen and a disabled bathroom would comply with standards including a sink, toilet and shower recess
- Change the existing roof line on the current reception area to allow the two areas to be internally accessed
- Purchase video conferencing equipment and basic medical equipment, requiring electrical, data cabling and plumbing to be connected to all areas of the extension.
Federal Member for Pearce, Christian Porter, welcomed the announcement.
“This grant will enable Northam Family Practice to expand and improve its facilities,” Mr Porter said.
“Better facilities will allow more doctors, nurses and other health workers to get hands-on training in general practices in rural and remote areas like Northam.
“They will be able to attend to patients and also, when they are fully qualified, are more likely to decide to stay in Northam or another rural community.”
The practice is one of 67 grant recipients across the nation, with a total of $13.1 million under the Liberal Government’s Rural General Practice Grants program.