The shopfront provides a base for Sunshine Coast Medicare Local staff and partner organisations to provide health services and information to the people of the Gympie region, inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Rooms are also available for hire at the location.

Having a space for local collaboration enables the Gympie primary health and commuity sectors to address health issues identified by the Gympie community, including high rates of tobacco smoking, low immunisation rates, medical transport and workforce development particularly in outlying areas.

The Partners In Recovery service for people with a severe and persistent mental illness is also available from the office - see www.partnersinrecoveryscg.org for more information.

Gympie Project

SCML has been aware of the health needs of the Gympie region since our first Health Needs Assessment in 2012.

• In our first budget we began to prioritise health issues in Gympie by funding Gympie Women's Health Centre, Family Planning Queensland and a range of other local organisations to address the region's health issues.
• In 2014 we expanded this support by providing additional services:
• Addressing the workforce shortage in the Gympie region by providing GPs and allied health providers for Kilkivan and Gympie, funding a GP to provide free appointments at a local service for youth in crisis, working with Gympie Hospital to develop a Nurse Practitioner Clinic within the hospital to reduce pressure on the Emergency Department.
• With around 25% of the Gympie population smoking, we realised the importance of funding a quit smoking program in Gympie through Goldfields Fullife Pharmacy
• A shopfront in the heart of Gympie, so SCML staff and partner organisations have a base from which to provide health services and information to the people of Gympie;
• The launch of a region-wide immunisation billboard campaign to improve immunisation rates;
• Funding Purser’s Coaches to provide a Volunteer Bus Service to the people of Goomeri to get into town for an additional day every week for appointments and social interaction;
• Supporting Graham House to continue to provide volunteer transport for the people of Kilkivan to access medical appointments in Gympie, Nambour and Brisbane;
• Providing administrative services to the Kilkivan Health Centre.