Canberra's first ever private emergency department is under construction and founders hope to provide paying patients no wait times and fast access to state-of-the art imaging. The city-based Summit Healthcare Hub will be home to several services, including a 17-bed purpose-built emergency department staffed by senior doctors. The Canberra Emergency Care Centre will service children and adults with most issues, ranging from viruses and minor injuries through to chest pain, abdominal pain, migraines, fractures and dislocations. The ED will not be suitable for medical emergencies that could kill someone or destroy a limb, known as life or limb threatening care. Patients can attend regardless of whether or not they have health insurance, but out of pocket costs are estimated to be about $300 to $400 per presentation. This cost cannot be covered by private health insurance. A dedicated imaging centre for cancer patients will offer bulk-billed and fast scans. Construction on the Turner site has already commenced, with plans to open around March 2026, emergency doctor Nicholas Lonergan said. “We're aiming for 40 to 60 patients a day for presentation and we're aiming to have essentially no wait time,” Dr Lonergan said. Unlike most emergency departments, it will not have wards or operating theatres but can transfer patients to public and private hospitals. It will be in the same building as Orthopaedics ACT, Garran Medical Imaging, Capital Clinic Physiotherapy, pathology and podiatry clinics so patients can receive scans quickly and be referred on to specialist and allied health services. Executive Director of Orthopaedics ACT and surgeon Saqib Zafar is behind the project with colleagues Professor Paul Smith, Alexander Burns and Nick Tsai. The surgeon specialises in bone and muscle injuries caused by accidents. He wanted to give back to the Canberra community and called Summit Healthcare Hub's imminent opening a dream come true. Dr Zafar hopes the entirely doctor-led and funded project will reduce pressure on the ACT's two public hospital emergency departments. “[Canberra Hospital] is the second or third busiest trauma centre in the country, and the numbers of orthopaedic trauma cases we see are phenomenal,” he said. It is the main hospital for a large region of nearly a million people and receives trauma cases from the many nearby highways. Skiing accidents are common in winter and summer is busy due to South Coast misadventures, while Canberrans get into cycling and sport-related accidents year round. In July, there was a daily average of nearly 500 presentations to Canberra's public emergency departments. READ MORE: Only half of urgent patients seen on time at Canberra emergency departments: report Dr Lonergan said patients arriving at public EDs with less serious issues like a broken wrist or ankle are often left waiting hours as sicker patients take priority. There can be delays waiting for scans and pathology tests or as more junior doctors consult with their senior supervisors. Summit Healthcare Hub will provide multiple services under one roof and be staffed by senior emergency doctors for quick treatment. Dr Zafar said patients often also face delays in follow-up care in public hospitals due to high demand and limited resourcing. He wanted to create a facility for people with “day to day injuries” that can “facilitate good patient care, but will also offload the burden or pressure on the Canberra Health Services”. “Eventually as the demand will increase, the capacity will increase accordingly, but we're hoping to take about ten to 20 per cent of the workload,” Dr Zafar said. Dr Zafar hopes referring patients with private health insurance to services within the Summit will help ease pressure on public outpatient clinics. It took months to find a suitable location, but the site at 7-11 Barry Drive in Turner was selected for its centrality, public transport links, including a short walk from the tram stop on Northbourne Avenue. It has an underground 71 space carpark and is “in the heart of the city, equal difference from all the four corners [of Canberra],” Dr Zafar said. They are also trying to get approvals for a drop-off zone. Garran Medical Imaging lead radiologist Jatinder Shekhawat said in the ACT's private system, PET scans and biopsies for cancer patients can take take three to four weeks to be returned, delaying treatment. The new Turner-based Garran Medical Imaging clinic will bulk-bill almost all radiology services for cancer patients, and biopsies will be heavily discounted. All Medicare eligible patients will be bulk billed for PET scans. It will also have the ACT's first ever weight-bearing CT scan. Another very high resolution photon counting CT scan will be the first in Canberra and fourth in Australia. MORE HEALTH: Physiotherapy services will include a gym and new rehabilitation treatment like gravity eliminated therapy and blood flow restriction therapy. While new to Canberra, there are private emergency departments found across Australia. Some, like Knox Private Hospital in Victoria, have reported increased demand causing longer waiting times for patients. Dr Lonergan, who has helped set up private EDs across the country, said ACT Health was very supportive of the project, unusually so for a government. The government said they welcomed the project because it would increase private health care options, offer more choice for Canberrans and help ease future demand on the public system.

Original source: au