Rodney Stevens
After 14 years operating Yamba Skin Clinic and seeing thousands of patients for their general practice and skin needs, Medicare cutbacks have hit leading to Dr Mark Groves closing the practice from December 14 and joining the team at Maclean Medical.
Yamba Skin Clinic spokesperson Natalie Le Breton said Dr Groves, who is a General Practitioner GP with a special interest in skin conditions, has lived and worked in the valley for 30 years and thoroughly enjoyed working with patients and his team at the Yamba Skin Clinic since 2009.
Unfortunately, Ms Le Breton said recent changes to Medicare have made it difficult to continue the Yamba Skin Clinic as the lone practitioner, even with the assistance of his well-qualified staff.
“It’s not sustainable anymore for him to run the practice as a solo General Practitioner because of changes to Medicare and our overheads,” she said.
Many locals would have noticed the decline in bulk billing and the difficulty in accessing health appointments, factors that are out of local practitioner’s control due to Medicare changes that have cut incentives for some rural doctors and practices.
Additionally, a lot of the local doctors are ageing, putting more pressure on recruiting new doctors to the area.
Over the years, Dr Groves has built up a great local clientele, in addition to attracting regular patients from as far as Glen Innes, Armidale, Moree, and the Gold Coast.
Fortunately, the region won’t lose Dr Grove’s decades of experience and knowledge as he and his team will move to Maclean Medical at 265 River Street from Tuesday 9th January 2024.
“Dr Groves is going to a practice where he will be with other doctors, there’s a support network, shared staff, and his expenses will be covered by the practice, and it will be great for him to have that collegial support working with other doctors,” Ms Le Breton said.
Other members of Dr Grove’s team joining him at Maclean Medical are Registered Nurse Jess Blackmore and receptionist Emma.
Ms Le Breton will continue to operate Ngara Beauty, Yamba, at 28a Yamba Street.