News

Barwon Health partnered with Colac Area Health (CAH) in 2022 to bring an expanded Medical Imaging service to the Colac community. April marks the one-year anniversary of the service, marking a milestone in providing more accessible quality imaging services to Colac Area Health and the community. The service offers state-of-the-art imaging technology, including CT, X-Rays, dental and ultrasound imaging.

With the opening of the Barwon Health service in Colac, many people no longer need to travel to Geelong for their medical imaging. The partnership between Colac Area Health and Barwon Health means should patients require a referral to Geelong for specialist care or an urgent transfer there is immediate access to clinical images to expedite appropriate care.

“Colac Area Health have welcomed the opportunity to partner with Barwon Health in the provision of this excellent service,” said Fiona Brew, Colac Area Health chief executive.

“The feedback from our clinicians is very positive with access to highly trained professionals delivering timely and appropriate care and advice. The quality of service experienced by our community is highly valued and appreciated. The service is invested in the local community.”

Since its opening in April 2022, a team of expert onsite radiologists, technologists, nursing and clerical staff have provided an expanded service for booked and urgent patients referred by their GP and for patients in Colac Hospital.

The team is focused on providing a friendly service and giving accurate and timely results. In its first 12 months, the service has seen over 13,000 patients and performed over 16,000 examinations.

“We are thrilled to celebrate our one-year anniversary and the successful year we’ve had in serving the local Colac community,” said Yasmin Verbunt, operations manager.

“We’ve built a team of highly trained and experienced professionals who have worked tirelessly to provide quality imaging services to our patients. We are delighted that some of the staff we recruited were able to return to their home town of Colac and this has enhanced the success of our service and enabled us to provide on-call 14/7 urgent services.”

The team are supported by an onsite consultant radiologist and registrar and the broader medical imaging team from Barwon Health who assist by rotating to Colac as needed to support both day and on-call services.

The partnership with CAH has included the investment in new equipment, including a Phillips digital X-Ray machine, Carestream digital OPG, and Phillips Ultrasound unit, providing patients with cutting-edge technology to diagnose and treat a range of conditions.

“We understand that medical imaging can be a stressful experience for our patients, and we strive to make the process as comfortable and seamless as possible,” said Mark Duggan, site supervisor.

“Our team takes pride in providing exceptional patient care and ensuring that each patient receives the attention and care they deserve. Many patients comment on the professionalism, care and respect they receive from our team.”