They kicked me out, says Dr

Kim Waters
A doctor has accused Bellarine Community Health of leaving Portarlington short of doctors after kicking him out of the town’s medical centre.
But Bellarine Community Health has turned the blame back on Dr Bruce Jones, saying it was his decision to quit Portarlington for his Drysdale practice.
Dr Jones said Bellarine Community Health told him he had to leave Portarlington Medical Centre because “they needed the room for something else”.
The doctor said he never wanted to leave Portarlington.
“It was never my intention to terminate my local service,” he said.
“It was not my decision.”
Dr Jones said he was concerned about the impact on his Portarlington patients.
“It’s only 10 kilometres to Drysdale but petrol is a bit expensive and the road is a bit bendy and dangerous.”
Dr Jones warned that patients faced a grim outlook for trying to find doctors.
“Geelong is about 45 GPs short and 60 per cent of GPs in Geelong are over 45. If you think we have a shortage of doctors at the moment, well there will be one hell of a shortage in the future.”
Bellarine Community Health chief executive officer John Fendyk said Dr Jones had few patients at Portarlington.
Leaving Portarlington was his own decision, Mr Fendyk said.
“Dr Jones decided that he didn’t want to continue practicing at Portarlington.
“There was a notion that we terminated his services but he wanted to finish up.”
Mr Fendyk said Dr Jones’s departure would not affect Portarlington residents.
Bellarine Community Health would help patients adapt, he said.
“I think that Portarlington, from a community perspective, is very well off with health services and we’re keen to look at how we can assist residents during the transition.”
However, Dr Fendyk said the centre was receiving calls from residents confused about why Dr Jones was leaving.
“We’ve had a number of enquires from members of the community,” he said.