Covid-19 Information
Our latest news section may take a bit of a back seat for a while in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. See our frequent updates in our Covid-19 information section.
Misconception Monday #3
Why does everyone keep asking my date of birth and address?!
We sometimes find this frustrating too, but it’s an important regulatory requirement for any accredited medical centre.
By ALWAYS checking three points of ID at the front desk, we ensure that the clinical staff look at the correct patient file, and we can’t make any mistakes with prescriptions, immunisations, tests being done, or results being given to the wrong patient.
Remember though, if you’d prefer, you can give us your driver’s licence for ID if you’d like to avoid hollering your home address across the waiting room!
New doctor! Dr Carolina Mazur
New doctor! Dr Carolina Mazur
Now that she's had a couple of weeks to settle in, we think it's probably time to introduce our wonderful new GP Registrar, Dr Carolina Mazur.
Originally from Argentina, Carolina immigrated to Australia in 2009 to study Medical Science at ANU in Canberra. In 2013, she moved to Wollongong to study Medicine at the University of Wollongong, graduating in 2016.
Since then, she has been living in Port Macquarie, where she completed her internship and residency. She worked in Kempsey for a year in the field of General Medicine, and is currently undertaking a Masters in Internal Medicine.
Her special interest include Chronic Disease Management and Geriatrics. In her free time she enjoys traveling with her husband, sewing and painting, and a good movie.
Misconception Mondays #2
‘Just as I get to know a doctor, they leave!’
Well, this one is a little bit true, but out of our hands! Doctors completing their registrar training have to train in at least two different practices, and so spend 12 (or sometimes 6) month terms with us before they are required to move to a different training practice.
We have 2 GP registrars working at WMC at any one time. These are fully qualified doctors with at least 3 years experience who are completing their specialty training in general practice. Our most recent registrars have been Dr Ben Williams (just departed), Dr Karen Atanis (pictured), and Dr Carolina Mazur (Carolina has just started, more on her soon!)
However, our senior GPs change very little, 8 GPs who have been with us 5 years or more, and are unlikely to leave anytime soon 👍👩⚕️👨⚕️🏡
Misconception Mondays #1
One of the things we noticed doing our recent survey is that there are a lot of misconceptions around regarding WMC and the services we provide. So, we thought we’d start a new series of regular Facebook posts called ‘Misconception Monday’. Hopefully these can be informative and help patients use our service to their advantage more often.
Misconception Monday #1 - I can’t get an appointment on the day when my child is unwell
No matter how busy we are, if your child is unwell and you feel they need to be seen that day, we will fit them in! If reception advise there are no appointments left, let us know you are worried and we arrange a nurse triage before one of our GPs sees them too.
There’s even a reasonable chance of a sticker, stamp, balloon or maybe even a hand-knitted toy.
We can now accept requests for repeat prescriptions and referrals online!
We're very pleased to announce that we now have the ability for patients to submit their requests for prescription repeats or renewed referrals online. This can be found in our 'online services' section which is on the right hand side of our menu under the 'Make an Appointment' button, or via this link - https://www.westsidemedical.com.au/online-services/online-services-1
Fee Increase Upcoming on September 1st, 2019
Due to ever increasing practice costs, we will be marginally increasing our fees in the new couple of weeks.
From the 1st September 2019 the fee for a standard consultation will increase by $2 to become:
$77 (no concession card)
$57 (with a health care card)
Our other consultation items (e.g. for long consultations) will also increase by a similar amount. All the specific figures can be found in our FAQs - https://www.westsidemedical.com.au/faq
Pensioners, DVA card holders and children under 16 years of age will continue to be bulk billed.
Find us on Facebook!
Make sure you go and check out our new Westside Medical Centre Facebook page!
We hope that this page will provide our patients to keep in touch with the practice in a convenient way. We'll use Facebook in addition to the website - to post updates about interesting or important health information, or practical things like our opening hours over holiday periods.
You can book your appointment online right from our Facebook page too - click on 'Book Online' just under the cover photo of our reception area, or via the app on the left. New patients are always welcome!
Our liked pages contain reputable sources of health information recommended by our doctors. We'll aim to add to these regularly, and share the really great ones on our timeline.
Find the page with a simple search, or at www.facebook.com/wmcportmac
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We adopted 22 koalas
As a gift to all our staff, Dr Debbie Kors generously adopted a koala for each of her staff members. 22 koalas were adopted in total. Keep an eye out for the adoption certificates throughout the practice.