"Howdy Pardner": rural doctors urge tourists to work with them as travel resumes

As travel restrictions are eased across much of Australia, rural doctors are urging visitors to their towns to work with them to ensure the local doctor workforce can continue to provide sustainable health services after what has been a horror year.

The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) and ACRRM say public education is crucial in informing visitors that hospital care in rural areas relies on local GPs being called out of their homes after-hours - not in-house doctors who are at the hospital all the time.

“Many of our colleagues have been ‘through the ringer’ multiple times this year – first with the bushfires, then with COVID-19…and some even with a flood crisis in between!” Dr Adam Coltzau, Clinical Lead for RDAA and ACRRM’s COVID-19 Rural and Remote Response, said.

Read the release