They were received informally before expressions of interest for the lease to take over the Deniliquin Medical Centre officially opened on Wednesday this week.
While Edward River Council cannot reveal specific details yet, the Pastoral Times can confirm one of the five includes Quantum Clinical Care PTY LTD, as announced in last Friday’s edition.
Quantum was established by Dr Nishan Silva, who only recently left Deniliquin, and some of his medical fraternity colleagues. The organisation is already in charge of the Barham medical centre.
Edward River Council CEO Jack Bond also said interest had been shown by “two local models”, and confirmed another two were from regional providers with a desire to expand into our area.
Mr Bond and Mayor Ashley Hall said they expect to receive even more interest now the official EOI period has opened.
The next stage in the process to replace Ochre Health as the lessees of the medical centre comes as a campaign to halt the change urges the community to appeal for political intervention.
Ochre Health doctor Albert Liebenberg and his wife Lourene are leading the campaign, which is now encouraging people to write to Federal Member for Farrer David Farley, NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton, NSW Minister for Local Government Greg Hoenig and the NSW Office of Local Government to express concern at council’s decision to end the Ochre Health least almost a year early.
“Every respectful email, phone call and letter helps demonstrate just how important continuity of GP services is to Deniliquin,” the Liebenbergs said, while providing a template letter on Mrs Liebenberg’s personal Facebook page.
Council’s EOI invites experienced organisations to “propose patient-centred models of care that will support the current and future healthcare needs of the Edward River community”.
It said it is an opportunity to “determine innovative service models that will strengthen healthcare delivery and support improved health outcomes across the region”.
“Our goal is to identify and select an operator that is best suited to the needs of the Edward River community and helps deliver improved health outcomes for people seeking healthcare in Deniliquin,” Cr Hall said.
“By opening this opportunity to the market, we're seeking experienced providers with the vision and capability to deliver accessible, sustainable and high-quality healthcare services for our region.
“By undertaking an open expression of interest process, we are seeking to better understand the range of service models available and identify operators who can contribute to the future healthcare needs of our region.”
The EOI has been designed to provide flexibility for respondents to propose innovative and sustainable healthcare solutions, while supporting continuity of healthcare services and enabling council to assess the opportunities available to the community.
The EOI period closes at 10am on Wednesday, August 19.
Mr Bond said a panel of industry professionals independent of the Edward River region would be formed to assess the applications.
Further information for applicants is available at www.edwardriver.nsw.gov.au/Council/Working-With-Council/Doing-Business-with-Council-1 and all enquiries should be directed to Mr Bond at medical.centre@edwardriver.nsw.gov.au.
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