On 4 September 2017, the director of Medifield Pty Ltd appointed Dane Hammond of Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants as voluntary administrator of Medifield Pty Ltd, trading as Gladstone Valley Medical Centre & Calliope Medical Centre (Medical Centres).
The Medical Centres have operated within the Calliope and Gladstone regions of Central Queensland for 9 and 10 years respectively. The Calliope practice had ceased to operate just prior to the administrator’s appointment and the Gladstone practice closed its doors on 20 September 2017. Ultimately, the Medical Centres were not profitable, primarily due to the difficulties of attracting and retaining qualified medical practitioners within the region.
Numerous stakeholders are affected by the voluntary administration including Medical Centres’; suppliers; the landlords of each Medical Centre; the Medical Centres patients, and the broader community.
Worrells are advising patients to request a copy of their patient/medical records via a request from their new healthcare providers. There are potentially aspects of a patient file that the patient cannot be given access to and this involves some medical assessment of the file. Worrells’ partners and staff are not qualified to make that assessment and accordingly it is prudent that Worrells do not release the files directly to the patient. Worrells explain that a transfer of the file to a new medico will alleviate this problem and ensure the patient’s privacy is maintained.
Currently, there is a lack of funds available in the administration. For the administration to receive a partial recoupment of the significant costs involved in dealing with the release of records, patients are being asked to pay a $77.00 fee.
Worrells’ Dane Hammond said, “This fee is to contribute to the time involved in dealing with the request for records; ensuring appropriate consent has been obtained from the patient; accessing those records from the company’s standalone computer servers; downloading the applicable files; and ultimately transitioning those files to the new medical practitioner.”
“We understand that people need access to their patient files, and that this is a concerning time for patients’ to find alternative medical practitioners. We must ensure that this transition is not compounded with incorrect information being made available.”
Worrells appreciates the impact the appointment has on local businesses and the community and will continue to proactively communicate with all affected parties. The objectives of the voluntary administration regime will assist to bring about the best possible outcome for the Medical Centre’s stakeholders.
Worrells has 26 offices nationally and 24 partners, across Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic, SA, and WA. Worrells has been providing solvency management, insolvency administration, and forensic investigation services for over 40 years.
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