Maitland’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinic opens at Lorn Surgery

11 December 2025

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Maitland Hospital in April 2025 (Image: newy.com.au)

newy.com.au – Maitland’s long-promised Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has opened at The Lorn Surgery, unit 8 at 555 High Street, offering free walk‑in care seven days a week from 8am to 6pm.

The federally funded clinic is part of the Federal Government’s expanding Medicare Urgent Care Clinic network, designed to ease pressure on hospital emergency departments by treating urgent but non-life-threatening conditions locally, at no out‑of‑pocket cost for people with a Medicare card.

Announcing the opening, Paterson MP Meryl Swanson told residents The Lorn Surgery in Maitland was the new home of Maitland’s Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, confirming it would operate from 8am to 6pm every day and that there is no charge for attending.

According to national guidance on Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, the service is aimed at urgent health problems that cannot wait for a regular GP appointment but do not require a hospital emergency department, such as minor infections, simple fractures and sprains, cuts, mild burns, gastroenteritis, and common eye, ear and respiratory problems.

Patients can walk in without an appointment, and treatment is fully bulk billed for Medicare card holders; the clinics are not an emergency service, and people with life‑threatening symptoms are still advised to call triple zero (000) or go straight to the nearest emergency department.

Swanson has campaigned for a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Maitland since last year, saying she collected more than 1,500 signatures on a local petition and arguing that the city’s rapid growth demanded more timely, affordable health care. In a joint statement with Health Minister Mark Butler earlier this year she said, “All you will need is your Medicare card, not your credit card,” adding that the clinic should help shift thousands of non‑urgent presentations away from Maitland Hospital’s emergency department, which logged 25,230 non‑urgent and semi‑urgent cases in 2023–24.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reaffirmed the Maitland commitment during a visit to Maitland Hospital on 3 April 2025, where he outlined plans for the clinic to start operating in the 2025–26 financial year as one of 50 additional Medicare Urgent Care Clinics promised nationally on top of the existing network.

Expressions of interest to host the Maitland clinic opened in July, with the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network inviting existing general practices, community health centres and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services to bid for the federally funded service. At the time, Butler said Medicare Urgent Care Clinics were “filling the gap between GPs and hospital emergency rooms”, while Swanson described inclusion of Maitland in the rollout as “fantastic news for our community… and a big win for locals”.

The EOI process sparked political debate locally. Maitland Mayor Philip Penfold criticised the model, saying on social media that “Federal Labor’s idea of ‘urgent care’ in Maitland… [is to] throw a million‑plus at an existing GP by slapping a new sign on the door”, and arguing established urgent care provider Heal Urgent Care should have been able to offer Medicare‑rebated care.

Heal already operates a seven‑day urgent care clinic on Metford Road in East Maitland, open 8am to 6pm, where its website lists a “complete urgent care fee” of $350 plus Medicare rebate for most visits, compared with the fully bulk‑billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinic now operating out of Lorn Surgery.

Online reaction to Swanson’s announcement was largely positive, with local resident Paul Waters commenting that “this is fantastic news, keep up the excellent work Meryl and the whole Labor team!”, while another commenter, Luke Atkins, suggested the new clinic would be “probably quicker than Maitland hospital”.

Nationally, the government says more than 1.2 million Australians have already been treated at the existing 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and expects around 2 million visits a year once the expanded network of 50 additional clinics, including Maitland, is fully operational.

With doors now open at Lorn Surgery, Hunter residents needing urgent but non‑life‑threatening care can attend the High Street clinic during its 8am–6pm daily opening hours, bringing their Medicare card, while serious emergencies will continue to be handled by ambulances and Maitland Hospital’s emergency department.