ARMIDALE hospital’s services have been boosted with the appointment of Rachel Chalmers, a general physician with a sub-specialty in kidney disease.
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Dr Chalmers is the fifth staff specialist to join the team at the hospital in the past six months.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said it was great news for the community.
“These appointments will enhance the hospital’s services and capacity, as well as strengthen patient care in the region,” he said.
Dr Chalmers will liaise with two kidney specialists based in Tamworth, to treat patients at Armidale and provide outreach services to smaller hospitals including Inverell.
She recently worked in a similar role in Darwin and says her skills will transfer well to her new position in Armidale.
“In Darwin I developed a remote outreach renal clinic service so I’m very familiar with the challenges of living rurally and delivering health services in a rural setting,” Dr Chalmers said.
“I’m very excited to continue this in the beautiful city of Armidale.”
Armidale hospital director of medical services Max Mansoor said Dr Chalmers would boost the hospital’s kidney disease team.
“We have visiting services from Tamworth to treat people with kidney disease, so Dr Chalmers will strengthen our capacity to provide expert clinical services for kidney disease from Armidale,” Dr Mansoor said.
“We are thrilled because we have almost the full complement of specialist staff and we are also thrilled that Dr Chalmers is very much committed to Armidale.”
Dr Mansoor said Dr Chalmers would also boost the support the hospital provides to local GPs.
“It will help them manage patients who have got chronic disease, such as kidney disease, and will form part of a collaborative approach with GPs to maintain continuity of care,” he said.