COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW Primary Health Network (PHN) is seeking to commission local general practice providers to establish three new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in Nowra, Bega and Shellharbour, with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. 

The clinics will provide local communities with high-quality, bulk-billed, walk-in urgent health care, operating seven days a week, over extended hours, with no appointment required. 

By delivering urgent but non-life-threatening care, the clinics are intended to ease pressure on local hospitals, including Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, Shellharbour Hospital and South East Regional Hospital, and fill an important gap in services outside standard business hours. 

Andrew Gow, Acting CEO of COORDINARE, said the organisation will run an independent commissioning process to select clinic providers for these new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. 

“This will involve an open tender process to identify the most appropriate providers to operate each clinic, ensuring they are integrated with the existing health system and responsive to community needs,” said Mr Gow. 

Across Australia, 90 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are already open, with more than 1.8 million presentations since June 2023. In New South Wales, over 355,700 people have accessed care at the 22 existing clinics as at 4 August 2025. 

Data shows the clinics are filling critical service gaps: 

• more than 22% of visits occur outside standard business hours 

• over one in four visits take place on weekends 

• one in four patients are young people under 15, giving families timely care and peace of mind. 

“These new clinics for Nowra, Shellharbour and Bega will make a real difference for their communities when they open later this year,” Mr Gow said. 

“They will complement local general practices and hospitals by offering a reliable option for urgent, non-life-threatening care, delivered locally and free of charge.” 

To apply, interested providers must be registered with Tenderlink. Please refer to the Tenderlink user guide for information on how to register and submit an application. 

Find out more about the EOI and apply here.

Further information about Medicare UCCs in South Eastern New South Wales can be found here.