‘Worst-case scenario’ occupation on the cards over clinic closures

Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly, who is separately fighting charges of unlawful assault, announced at a Saturday rally Neither joint health nor an upgrade plan should state or federal governments take action to save the service, which has provided free medical care to vulnerable Melburnians for more than 135 years.

Jolly said the cuts amounted to “the most blanket attack on poor people” he had witnessed in decades and accused shared health of abandoning its core mission, noting that it had recently expanded into Tasmania and a new center would soon open in Flinders Street.

“These services are not businesses that the board of directors will close,” he said. “This is not corporate health, it is community health,” he said.

Despite public pressure, on Monday this week patients received a message from cohealth confirming that the closures would continue.

Jolly said rallies, petitions and public meetings will continue, but in the worst-case scenario, planning turns into an occupation. Last week, posters promoting the “riot clinics” plan began appearing in inner-city neighbourhoods; activists were inspired by decades of squatters’ campaigns that successfully saved both Fitzroy Pool and the Reservoir. Richmond Secondary School Also from closing East West Link protestsultimately led to the project being abandoned.

Jolly, who has been involved in all three, said: “That’s the way this field is… We put our money where our mouth is.”

Anita Munoz, president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said she was not surprised that health workers were ready to take action, but she refused to comment on any impediments to doctors providing care in slum conditions and said she was not authorized to provide legal advice.

“People care so much about their community,” Munoz said. “If all of these vulnerable people are suddenly without their doctor, they’re going to have to use their doctor.” [nearby] emergency rooms and urgent care centers. In the end it will be bad for everyone.

“We certainly know the money can be found. It’s really just a matter of the political will to step in and save the service.”

Dr Simon Judkins, president of the Australian Medical Association Victoria, agrees.

“BUT Victoria was not involved in the planned actions. [But] The message to both state and federal governments is clear: protect health together and invest in community care for the long term.

A joint health spokesperson said the organisation’s top priority was the health, wellbeing and safety of customers and staff.

“We will continue to support our clients throughout this period and will increase staffing in clinics to provide information and assist with the transition of their care,” the spokesperson said.

“Our discussions with the federal government have been active and ongoing to advocate for sustainable funding of these complex care GP services and to find solutions to prevent services closure.”

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Cohealth’s origins date back to 1889 when it was known as the Collingwood Free Medical Mission Dispensary, the first Dispensary in the colony of Victoria. Established helping “poor patients” in an area that was once heavily working class. Nowadays, allied health is accessible to all Victorians, but priority is still given to people at risk of chronic poor health, such as refugees, Indigenous people, victims of domestic violence, ex-prisoners and rough sleepers.

On Tuesday Infrastructure Victoria released a report recommending the Allan government spend billions of dollars rebuilding major hospitals and allocate extra funding for community health as part of its 30-year strategy.

State Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri, who has seats in Collingwood and Fitzroy, said the report “proves it is the state’s responsibility to keep public health open”.

A spokesman for Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas refused to say what the state would do if clinics were occupied but said the joint health board had made clear the proposed Collingwood closure had nothing to do with the state’s infrastructure spending.

Georgie Crozier, the coalition’s health spokesperson, said the state government should not be left on its own while communities lose access to essential care.

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