New Heart of Australia Mobile Clinic in Regional and Rural Queensland

"The government is pleased to have provided $250,000 to fit out the Heart of Australia mobile cardiology clinic, which will offer much needed prevention, early detection, treatment and management of heart disease to people in regional and remote areas," federal Assistant Minister for Health, Fiona Nash said.
"As well as supporting investigation, diagnosis and consultation facilities, the mobile clinic will also host telemedicine consultations and teleconferencing, connecting patients with specialists and other health providers in main cities thousands of kilometres away.
"This truck will service rural and remote locations in Queensland with an initial focus on supporting the communities of Dalby, Roma, Charleville, Goondiwindi and St George.
The Heart of Australia is delivered in partnership with Arrow Energy and the Queensland government.
The Federal Member for Groom, Ian Macfarlane, welcomed the initiative and the support for getting the Heart of Australia on the road.
“Queenslanders living in rural and remote locations know how hard it can be to access timely specialist health resources,” he said. “The Heart of Australia literally puts a fully functional diagnostic and treatment clinic on wheels, bringing much needed cardiac and respiratory care to country Queensland.”
Queensland Senator Barry O’Sullivan, said the mobile clinic would be a “game changer” for medical service delivery across rural and regional Queensland.
“The mobile clinic was the idea of Doctor Rolf Gomes, a general cardiologist with a passion for innovation and its application to medicine," Senator O'Sullivan said. "From the first time I spoke to Dr Gomes about his mobile clinic concept, I knew we were on the cusp of a new era in medical service delivery to bush communities.  “This mobile cardiology clinic will provide access to appropriate and timely care without forcing families to travel vast distances and face long separations from each other.”
The Australian Government provides more than $200 million over three years to support outreach health services to Australians through programmes such as the Rural Health Outreach Fund and the Medical Outreach Indigenous Chronic Disease Programme. Of this funding, up to $47.5 million is provided for services in Queensland