Since opening in 2023, two urgent care clinics in Gippsland have treated approximately 27,000 patients each year, diverting many away from an emergency department (ED) visit and/or a journey in the back of an ambulance.

Urgent care clinics are designed to treat people with illness, chronic conditions or non-life threatening injuries who do not need to be treated at an emergency department (ED).

What happened: In a report released in June, Gippsland Primary Health Network (GPHN) looked at the degree to which Gippsland’s healthcare system was preventing unnecessary hospitalisations.

In the latest statistics, for the 2024-25 financial year, 43,462 patients presented at Gippsland EDs with a “low-urgency issue”, which was 33 percent of all ED presentations for that year.

  • The report estimated preventable hospitalisations cost Gippsland healthcare $127 million each year.

The data in the report covers how effectively Gippsland’s two standalone urgent care clinics in Warragul and Moe are relieving emergency wait times at hospitals. 

There are various hospitals around the region that offer urgent care services but providing them can still put a strain on staff and emergency wait times.

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What is an urgent care clinic? 

The state government launched its first urgent care clinics in September 2022. They offer longer operating hours than GPs and provide medical treatment for urgent but not life-threatening conditions.

No appointment or referral is needed to see an urgent care doctor or nurse and they are open to everyone.

The goal of the clinics is to relieve pressure on emergency departments from having to cope with patients with non-emergency problems.

Victoria was the first state to adopt the new clinics and the program was then rolled out nationally by the federal government in June 2023.

There are now 38 clinics across Victoria - 29 funded by the federal government and nine by the state.

Is it working? The report found lower-urgency ED presentations decreased by 13 percent between 2019 and 2025.

Where are Gippsland’s urgent care clinics?

  • Warragul Medicare Urgent Care Clinic at 170 Normanby Street is open 8am to 10pm every day.

  • Latrobe Urgent Care Clinic at 42-44 Fowler Street, Moe is open 8am to 10pm every day.

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Review underway: The federal government is conducting an evaluation into the program, with an interim report by the government estimating a 10.6 percent reduction in urgent-care equivalent ED presentations around the state between April 2024 and March 2025.

Boosting health: A $10 million investment in the 2026-27 state budget supports the nine state-funded clinics. The Victorian government had budgeted about $32 billion for health in this financial year.

Opposing views: Victoria’s Liberal Party has not made any recent pledges to increase funding or the overall numbers of urgent care clinics or centres across the state. 

  • Instead, the party has criticised the condition of major hospitals and committed more than $1.4 billion towards four upgrade projects across centres in West Gippsland, Rosebud, Mildura and Hamilton.

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