An enlarged Urgent Care Centre opened on Thursday as the first step in delivering the new Phillip Island Community Hospital.

Health Minister Mary Anne Thomas visited Cowes to mark the opening of the centre, the first service to begin operating from the new hospital building.

The new Urgent Care Centre (UCC) has expanded the capacity of Bass Coast Health to offer urgent care services, including afterhours care for minor, non-emergency injuries like bumps, cuts and bruises, mild infections and suspected fractures.

The site of the old Urgent Care Centre will be renovated and repurposed as a public dental facility.

The move is the first stage of a phased delivery of the Community Hospital, with the other services to be opened throughout the year.

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