Just a reminder that Today and Everyday is R U OK? day. Recognized in our workplace with some yummy yellow home made lemon slice and open conversation that it's ok not to be ok.
If you feel you need help please contact your GP or Lifeline on 131114 ... See MoreSee Less

4 days ago

Last session of three this Thursday. Get your questions answered! Free.. ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago

We love having you as part of the team and we are so glad you chose Wangaratta as your home!Humans of Wangaratta

My name is Paul Molina Chavez, I'm a General Practitioner working at the Wangaratta Medical Center. My wife and I are originally from Ecuador in South America, we moved to Australia in 2008. I worked at the Wangaratta hospital for a year or so to get my Australian general registration, and then we moved away. In 2015 we decided to return, establish our lives, and raise our family; we have a nine-year-old and an almost seven-year-old.

There were a few things that stood out when we sat down to think about where we wanted to live long term. Firstly, the strong social connections we had made, this is important because we don't have any family in Australia. The second thing was the geography; the mountains, rivers, lakes, and everything in between. And we thought that our kids would love that too. There is also great food and great wine and it’s a very sport driven town, and we like being active. Wangaratta is small enough that it's beautifully quiet, you know. But it’s also big enough that you have the necessities without going anywhere else. Access to Albury airport means you can hop on a flight to Sydney or Melbourne and then to the rest of the world.

I play social indoor soccer once a week, coming from South America I’m naturally drawn to it. I would like to do a lot more but there is the question of time. I joined the Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability Group and I like to volunteer for activities like Clean up Australia Day as much as possible. Because as a family we are also very passionate about the climate and environment.

Wangaratta’s community groups are a big inspiration to me. They are driven by like-minded, passionate volunteers, and it motivates others to do something similar. The repair café is a great example - people joining together to help the environment by repairing items that would end up in landfill, I'm one of the biggest clients! Project 365 and Big Brothers, Big Sisters, are other wonderful examples.

The biggest achievement of my career was winning Victoria's General Practitioner of the year recently. That was a very nice surprise and an honour. Awards are not my motivation and I questioned it, there’s a lot of GPs that do as much if not more than I do. But reflecting back, I do a lot of things and I am thankful for being recognised. Personally, my biggest achievement would be my children. I love them to pieces and would love more time with them because they're just so much fun and they grow up so quickly, that's for sure.

Access to health care in our region concerns me. The growth of the health practitioner population is not growing with the general population. It’s a chronic issue. Primary carers in general are not available: psychologists, physiotherapists, OTs, speech pathologists. They're either not available, or there's a very prolonged waiting time. One of the most concerning areas is mental health. There's virtually no psychiatrist in the region that will see someone face to face within nine months or more. If they have open books.

This marries, of course, with a chronic underfunding of primary care from the government. The recent budget had little to nothing for primary care. I've sent letters to ministers, our local council and MP’s, to try and find solutions, but that's my biggest concern, access.

What's the point of growing if you don't have healthcare for the community? It will cost more eventually to help people because they're going to have health issues due to a lack of primary care. We need to consider healthcare in our planning. And we need to nurture students and young practitioners. If we train them in rural areas, we are more likely to retain them in in rural areas. That is one of the reasons I spoke at the Australian Medical Students' Association, National Convention this week – to raise awareness of the many benefits of working in the regions. ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago