Health minister Jim McGinty paid a surprise visit to Bunbury yesterday morning to announce plans for a $4 million breast cancer screening and assessment clinic.
Mr McGinty said the clinic would be the first in regional WA, will be situated in the centre of the city and be up and running by the end of next year if Labor was re-elected.
The clinic would be fitted with a $500,000 full-field mammography machine and would allow women who require further examination to be assessed in Bunbury rather than travel to Perth.
“Bunbury is a sufficiently large population to be able to sustain state-of-the-art health facilities like not only a breast assessment area but also then the follow up treatment areas for radiation therapy, surgery and the like” Mr McGinty said.
Local breast surgeon Neill Kling said it would make the experience a bit less traumatic for women battling breast cancer as it would remove repeat trips to Perth.