Medical centre expansion

By David Kavanagh | posted on November 15, 2019

PLANTAGENET Medical Centre is set to significantly expand next year after Council unanimously voted to develop eight new consulting rooms at the site last Wednesday.

The additions will bring the overall floor size of the building on Lot 530 Marmion Street and Langton Road in Mount Barker from 566sqm to 713.2sqm and increase the total number of consulting rooms to 23.

Shire Executive Manager of Strategic Development Andrus Budrikis said the extension would allow Albany-based Pioneer Health, which took over the lease of the centre in 2017, “to expand the services they provide to the region”.

“The Shire has engaged architects Roberts Gardiner to prepare construction documentation and administer the building contract,” he said.

“Tenders for the construction will be held in December.”

If all goes as planned, work on the additions is expected to begin in March and finish approximately three months later.

It is predicted to cost around $420,000, which the Shire set aside in the 2019/20 annual budget.

The Plantagenet Medical Centre was originally built by the Shire in 2009 for approximately $1.48 million and was partly funded by a grant and a loan from Mount Barker Community Bank.

Shire Principal Planning Officer Vincent Jenkins noted in his recent report to Council that the facility was a “critical piece of infrastructure” for the district.

He highlighted 2016 census data that showed Plantagenet’s population was statistically older than the state regional average, with the largest population age group aged between 55 and 69.

“Approximate health service provision is essential to ensuring older people can age in their homes,” he wrote.

“The provision of infrastructure to facilitate service provision will support older residents to stay in their homes … [and] are likely to extend the life of the facility.”