Phillip Carter 

Meet Phillip Carter, Manager Medical Imaging Services Eurobodalla.

We sat down with Phillip to find out how he’s been involved in the planning for the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital what it will mean for future of medical imaging services.

Who are you and what is your role in Eurobodalla Health Services?  

My name is Phillip Carter and I'm the Manager of Imaging Services in Eurobodalla covering Moruya and Batemans Bay.  

How have you been involved in the planning and design of the Eurobodalla Regional Hospital?  

I've worked here since 1998 and on my first day of work my then manager said we needed to start working towards a single-site hospital with one service for imaging, theatres and emergency.  

So we've been planning for the last two years and we've developed a bespoke medical imaging department that meets our needs and the community’s needs. We're getting MRI scanners, new CT scanners, extra ultrasound services and extra X-Ray services so that we can do the full range of imaging required by a Level 4 hospital.  

What does a single-site hospital mean for a patient? 

As an example, rather than being dropped to Batemans Bay and being transferred to Moruya for imaging services, they will come directly to the new Eurobodalla Hospital which will provide better patient care, better patient outcomes, quicker treatment, less waiting, better turnaround times, basically just provide that higher level of service quickly.  

Because there will be less ambulance transfers, there will be less ambulances on the road which makes more ambulances available to Triple Zero (000) calls. So, when you have an emergency, you're able to get the hospital quicker because we won’t be transferring between hospitals.  

What about staffing for the new services?  

Another benefit is that we will be able to employ more dedicated specialist staff in emergency and radiology particularly emergency physicians and radiologists which will reduce our reliance on fly-in and fly-out specialists which will improve the service and improve the quality of care.  

What is one thing you really want the community to know about the future of medical imaging services in Eurobodalla?  

In expanding our services and increasing our staff we will be able to extend our hours of opening and will provide a high level of service that the community needs. It’s really exciting to move into a new state of the art bespoke facility that's going to meet the needs of the community, not just now, but into the future. 

What would you tell someone interested in coming to work in the imaging team at Eurobodalla Health Service? 

We have a great medical imaging team in Eurobodalla. We work together as one and it's a great place to work, we have a brand new hospital coming, it's exciting, we're getting new technology, new equipment and it really is a great place to work. I just can't say enough good stuff about working here.

I've been here for 26 years, I don't want to go anywhere else and I'm really looking forward to bringing more people into my team and having them experience what we've experienced for the last 26 years. It’s a great place to be.