‘Deeply saddened’ GP faces closure of remote WA clinic

A ‘devastated’ GP and her family are facing the prospect of moving away from the community they love, as financial pressures force the Kalbarri Doctors Surgery in remote Western Australia to close its doors on 25 June.
 
Christopher Hamilton, director of the practice operator MediBloom Group, announced the closure this week, a decision he said was made ‘after exhausting every option available to us’.
 
‘For a long time, we have worked tirelessly to keep the doors open, including investing our own money to continue providing healthcare to Kalbarri,’ he said.
 
‘We have explored funding opportunities, support pathways and potential buyers, but unfortunately none have provided a sustainable future for the practice.
 
‘The reality is that the cost of operating a fully bulk-billed remote GP clinic now exceeds the funding available to support it.
 
‘We are deeply saddened that we have reached this point.’
 
His wife, Dr Tara Hamilton, is a GP at the clinic, which lies 570 kilometres north of Perth and 155 kilometres from the regional city of Geraldton.
 
‘This is our home, this is where I’ve been living for six years, this is where I’ve raised both of my two children – not one part of me wants to leave,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘I’m devastated for the community, who are all good friends … and I’m really concerned because they’ll have to travel two hours each way for basic medical care, which many can’t afford, or don’t have cars, or can’t access.’
 
She also raised concerns about the impact on the town’s hospital, which she predicts will need to absorb dozens of extra patients a day.
 
‘The burden on the local health services will be extreme,’ she said.
 
Dr Hamilton says bulk billing is the only option for operating the clinic, with the population not big enough to make private billing viable.
 
She also cites the 2.6% Medicare rebate increase, revealed last week, as ‘100%’ a factor in the announcement’s timing with the clinic facing cost increases of more than 4%.
 
‘That [Medicare rebate increase] comes in the start of July, so we don’t want to be burdened even further,’ she said.
 
Medicare billing shifts have also dramatically reduced the clinic’s income over the past year, she said, including changes to chronic care plan numbers last July and the removal of mental health care items last November.
 
Previously she said co-billing items had helped keep the clinic viable.  
 
‘This is a problem for all GPs,’ Dr Hamilton said.  
 
‘This is not just about our clinic – GP salaries have been cut in Australia unless they’re a privately billed GP that just uses time-based care, which is not great for the lower socioeconomic communities.’


Dr Tara Hamilton, her husband Christopher Hamilton, and their family, have enjoyed life as part of a remote Western Australian community.
 
RACGP Vice President and RACGP WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman said she is ‘really sad’ about the impending closure.
 
‘This is a practice that has been in the community for so many years and Kalbarri has now lost its only GP service and the patients have lost access to their trusted GP,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘The reality is this is not just a workforce story, it’s actually a funding story.
 
‘The funding model, particularly with the emphasis on bulk billing and the bulk-billing incentives, is just not keeping pace with what it takes to run a practice.
 
‘It’s primarily because practices have been absorbing the rising costs in staffing and all the other factors, including rent, technology, insurance.’
 
She also notes the financial pressures on the practice had been known for some time, with the clinic saying it has been on a federal critical closure list since June 2025.
 
‘One of the other factors the owners highlighted is this is not new – this has been raised with local, state and federal government levels over the last 18 months,’ Dr Raman said.  
 
‘It’s concerning that they’ve come to a point where they are having to close their doors.
 
‘This is going to significantly impact the community and the services that are being delivered in that area, and it’s going to impact on the load in the hospitals in the state system.’
 
Last year, the MediBloom Group also announced the closure of a general practice in the town of Northampton, around 100 kilometres away, due to financial and recruitment challenges.
 
For Dr Hamilton, the Kalbarri closure is likely to mean she and her family will have to relocate, along with the two registrars the clinic employs.
 
‘Financially we don’t have any more to give, we don’t have any more surplus funds up our sleeves,’ she said.  
 
‘There’s no plan B lined up, there’s no other clinics in town, so I’ve got no other option.’

The WA Primary Health Alliance, the primary health network that covers the Kalbarri area, was approached by newsGP but declined to comment.

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