The Federal Minister for Rural and Regional Health, Warren Snowdon, has announced a $335,000 grant to fund the expansion of the practice.

Dr Duncan MacKinnon said he was thrilled to receive the news last week after the official announcement in Canberra when the Minister announced a total of $5 million for similar health infrastructure projects throughout regional Australia.

The funding signals a significant step forward in Dr MacKinnon’s plans to expand his general practice in Bega to accommodate two newly trained rural GPs following the completion of the first stage of his multi-purpose medical facility in 2007.

Dr MacKinnon explained the funding will be used to convert an adjacent residence into practice space to house three new consulting rooms, an enlarged patient waiting area and a meeting room with a small demonstration kitchen for nutrition education sessions.

The sealed car park will also be extended.

“Our commitment to training medical students and registrars has allowed us to secure the services of two newly trained GPs for our practice,” Dr MacKinnon said.

“This funding will allow us to expand the medical centre to accommodate them and our growing team of allied health professionals for the benefit of the Bega community.”

Dr MacKinnon thanked the Southern General Practice Network for its assistance in preparing the lengthy submission.

He also thanked his dedicated team at the practice.

“I’m very grateful to SGPN for the tremendous amount of work they contributed to the funding application,” he said.

“Having their encouragement, support and expertise was pivotal to the success of the submission.”

SGPN CEO Kym Batt was in Canberra to hear the announcement and said the success of the application was testament to Dr MacKinnon’s vision for a state of the art medical practice for the people of Bega.

“Duncan’s approach to general practice is much talked about but rarely delivered, Mr Batt said.

“His efforts in assembling a team of allied health professionals and providing training for medical students and registrars is a genuine solution to meeting his patients’ needs, now and in the future.”