Marking Women’s Health Week: Why It Matters at Ochre

This September (7–11), Australia marks Women’s Health Week — Jean Hailes’ annual campaign and the country’s largest week dedicated to women’s health. This year’s theme, “Do it anyway,” is about small, realistic steps: to fuel, to move, to rest, to breathe and to connect. It’s a fitting reminder for a network like ours, where women’s health isn’t a once-a-year conversation; it’s an everyday part of the care we provide.

Across the Ochre Health network – more than 75 medical centres and Urgent Care Clinics spanning five states and territories, and over 500 independent practitioners – women’s health is embedded in the everyday work of our GPs. Our doctors support patients through cervical screening, reproductive and preventative health, and the management of conditions such as endometriosis, perimenopause and menopause. Many of our GPs bring a particular focus to this area, offering specialised, ongoing care to women at every life stage.

That commitment took a significant step forward earlier this year, when Airlie Women’s Clinic joined the Ochre Health Group – also marking Ochre’s first presence in the Melbourne metropolitan region. Established almost 40 years ago by a group of female doctors, Airlie has grown into one of Melbourne’s most trusted women’s health practices, operating across three sites in Prahran East, Prahran and Malvern. Today the clinic is home to over 20 female GPs and a broader team of nurses and support staff, offering care across general practice, women’s health, gynaecology, children’s health and preventative health, and holds accreditation as a GP training facility. Welcoming a practice of this calibre and history into the Ochre family is a genuine testament to how seriously we take women’s health as a network.

As Women’s Health Week reminds us, good health is built through small, sustainable steps – and through the guidance of a GP who understands the full picture of a woman’s health across every life stage. This week is an opportunity to acknowledge the work our GPs and clinical teams do year-round, and to encourage every woman across our patient community, and within our own Ochre team, to take a moment for her own health.

More information and free resources for Women’s Health Week are available at jeanhailes.org.au/get-involved/womens-health-week.