Bridgetown Medical officially opens clinic extension with new offices and treatment room.

Bridgetown Medical celebrated the opening on their clinic extension — consisting of three new offices and an treatment room — on Friday evening with nibbles, drinks and a tour of the new rooms. The extension came in recognition of the need to meet with the expansion of the staff, with growing numbers of practitioners, to be housed in expanded and modern consulting rooms. The main Bridgetown Medical building was opened in 1969 as a medical and dental practice and served Bridgetown and its surrounding towns of Nannup, Balingup and Greenbushes by core business partners Dr Nigel Jones, Dr Neil Wells, Dr Mick Dewing, and more recently Dr Mike Hoar, with Dr Jones and Dr Wells retiring in 2019. In the past year, new doctors joined the team in response to medical appointment struggles because of staff shortages including Dr Bahareh Varposhti and Dr Saya Marand from Iran, Dr Robyn McIntyre from Esperance, Dr Marc Dantoc part-time when not working with the Australian Navy and most recently Dr Paul Griffiths from Manjimup. In addition to the office spaces, a new treatment room was also unveiled to the public which the clinic hopes will provide a much-needed service to the community requiring minor surgical procedures. Bridgetown Medical senior partner and GP Dr Mick Dewing said he was thrilled to offer the new extension to the community of Bridgetown. “As the number of doctors has increased, it was timely to enact the always-planned for 3rd stage of the extension of the building,” he said. “We have retained the original architect and building contractor from the first extension more than 20 years ago, which allowed for seamless integration of the new extension with the existing premises.” Bridgetown Medical practice manager Sharon Gardner said the new offices and treatment room offered reassurance to both patients and staff for availability of appointments and services. “We are so fortunate as a medical practice and a community, we are now able to confidently offer on the day appointments with a range of practitioners and can welcome patients into generous and comfortable spaces,” she said. The clinic looks forward to patients being welcomed to the new expansion beginning on June 6, following the long weekend.