GP Service and Collingwood site changes at cohealth: client and community information

The general practice (GP) services will remain open at these clinics after the 31 July. 

The government and cohealth have now provided additional funding so the services can stay open for another 12 months, until July 2027. 

We understand that 12 months doesn’t provide the certainty people need.  

cohealth are doing everything we can to secure a longer-term solution, and we will keep you updated over the next year. 

One of the ways we are working on a longer-term solution is by inviting our community, along with our clinic staff, to help us work on what a future service model looks like, so we can trial it and make it work in a permanent way.   

We want community members and clients to be involved in these conversations, because your input, experiences and voices are very important.  

Yes, all existing appointments with your doctor will proceed as scheduled. General Practice (Doctor and Nursing) services at  Hoddle St Collingwood, Brunswick St Fitzroy and Gower St Kensington sites will remain open.

We understand this health centre is important to community.

cohealth cannot continue delivering services from the Collingwood site as it is, in the long-term.

We remain committed to delivering health services in Collingwood, including GP services, for many years.

We are working with government on a proposal to redevelop the site, so community can have a safe, accessible, local health centre, into the future.

Along with your vocal support, we have advocated for years to redevelop our cohealth Collingwood location at 365 Hoddle Street. Over the past few years we have led a dedicated campaign and community consultation process, created a public petition to build support, and partnered with Unison Housing to call for an integrated health and housing hub.

We have also made submissions to government inquiries and engaged with decision-makers about the urgent need for funding for modern facilities because we know that health and housing are important parts of individual and community wellbeing.

However, despite these efforts, we have unfortunately not received the funding we need to keep cohealth Collingwood open at 365 Hoddle St.

cohealth cannot continue delivering services from the Collingwood site and cannot afford the tens of millions of dollars of significant upgrades the site needs to provide the standard of care our staff, clients and communities deserve.

cohealth has made some very difficult decisions to let go of sites and services that mean a great deal to us, but that we can no longer operate for our communities into the future.

cohealth board and leadership has made these decisions, after many years of advocacy in partnership with community.

We are funded by government, and we are now working in a system that makes it difficult for us to deliver the type of cohealth care our communities need and deserve. We need to respond to this and make changes so that we can keep supporting communities for many years.

We will keep advocating to government, alongside community, for the funding and policy changes that cohealth needs to deliver the best possible care and health outcomes for our communities.

We welcome you to provide feedback about these decisions. We value your feedback – it helps us capture what we are doing well and look at where we need to improve.

Please contact our client information team at experience@cohealth.org.au.