General News
23 July, 2026
Hopetoun gets pathology boost
From Thursday, July 23, Rural Northwest Health (RNH) will have dedicated blood pathology days at Hopetoun Urgent Care Centre.
The centre will offer blood pathology services each Thursday between 9am and 12pm.
The initiative forms part of RNH's commitment to providing appropriate and timely care to the communities it serves, ensuring patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time, while supporting improved efficiency within Urgent Care.
RNH's Executive Manager Clinical Services, Joseph Bermudo, said the initiative is designed to improve care and access to Hopetoun Urgent Care Centre's critical services.
“As part of our commitment to continuously improving the services we offer our local community, we recently reviewed presentations to the Hopetoun Urgent Care Centre," Mr Bermudo said.
"This review identified an opportunity to better support patients seeking routine blood pathology, alongside those requiring urgent care.
“Following this review, we have made the decision to implement a dedicated pathology day to improve the availability of Urgent Care services for patients requiring critical treatment and to enhance patient flow.”
Sessions have been scheduled to align with the Australian Clinical Labs courier service, which attends Hopetoun Monday to Friday between 12:30pm and 1pm, supporting timely processing of collected samples.
“We believe this new structure for pathology collection will benefit those who require care at Rural Northwest Health’s Hopetoun Urgent Care Centre, by enabling more timely pathology processing and clinical decision-making," Mr Bermudo said.
This service will not replace District Nursing or VMO services and will be trialled over the next three months, with regular reviews undertaken to ensure it is meeting the needs of the community and the service.
Community members in need of blood pathology services can book in via the Rural Northwest Health Administration Team on (03) 5083 2000.