Sharp Street Surgery joins Ochre network

A long-established medical practice in Cooma has recently partnered with Ochre Health to enhance its medical services and provide continuing management and operational support for the doctors and staff.

From 4 November, Sharp Street Surgery will be operating as Ochre Medical Centre Cooma. Founded in 1902, all of its generations of doctors have focused on delivering high quality care and improving patient outcomes in the local community. The team has expanded over the years to 12 doctors, five nurses, a visiting midwife and 10 administration staff and its range of services now includes palliative care, pregnancy care, a skin clinic, a walk-in-sexual health clinic, and a counselling service. Since 2006, the surgery has also provided training for Rural Stream students from the Australian National University (ANU).

Dr Brian Tugwell, who has been at the practice for more than 23 years, says the decision to join a national general practice group has come after much consideration. He says it will provide important management and operational support for himself and the other doctors and staff. “The decision to join with Ochre Health will reinforce our practice’s longevity in the community. With Ochre’s help, we will have good support from a clinical, IT, administrative and recruitment perspective, which, as doctors, will enable us to focus our energies on providing a high level of care for our patients. Ultimately, the partnership will ensure that the community has accessible and sustainable healthcare services into the future.”

He emphasises that retaining stability throughout the transition is the practice’s top priority. “From a patient’s perspective, the only change to the practice will be its name. They will continue to see the same doctors and the same familiar faces of our staff, and can expect no changes to operating hours, phone numbers or billing policies. Essentially, it will be business as usual.”

Dr Sean Truter has been at Sharp Street Surgery since immigrating to Australia from South Africa in 2008. He says that what attracted him to Cooma was his passion for rural medicine, and that the practice’s decision to merge with Ochre Health was made simple by the fact that it shares the same vision regarding the provision of quality care to rural and regional communities.

“The other doctors and I at the Sharp Street Surgery are passionate about providing comprehensive healthcare to the Cooma region, and Ochre Health was also founded by two rural GPs passionate about improving patient health outcomes. Ochre Health is therefore the perfect match for our practice, and the transition for doctors and staff, as well as for patients, will be seamless,” says Dr Truter.

Ochre Medical Centre Cooma is located at 182 and 184 Sharp Street, Cooma. To book a consultation, please call (02) 6455 0000 or click the orange button.