Registrar Welcome Guide

The Mersey Community Hospital has 95 beds and offers general and specialist health services to the region.

The MCH is located in Latrobe, about 10 minutes away from Devonport and 40 minutes away from Burnie. It is best accessed via car, and parking is available onsite.

The cafeteria is open Monday to Friday for lunch and is located on Level 3.

The kiosk is open on the ground floor, opposite the emergency department and sells food and drinks. The kiosk is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm and Saturday & Sunday, 1:30 pm to 6pm

The Rural Clinical School is on level 2, where there is the doctors lounge and library, which is open at all hours (swipe card access required)

The MCH offers a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate clinical training program and has close ties with the University of Tasmania through the Rural Clinical School and with TAFE Tasmania.

Clinical services and facilities include:

• Emergency department
• Outpatient department General Medicine, Gastroenterology, Respiratory, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, Paediatrics, General Surgery and Orthopaedics
• Radiology Service
• Medical Ward
• Day Surgery Centre

The NWRH at Burnie is a modern 160-bed facility providing high-quality healthcare and specialist services to North West Tasmania and King Island. It offers services in medical, surgical and allied health specialties through inpatient and outpatient departments.

The hospital caters for the emergency resuscitation, surgery and intensive care of most trauma patients and other medical conditions. As the NWRH is a secondary-level service, transfer to comprehensive tertiary hospitals occurs for some clinical conditions.

The library is located on level 1 in the Cancer Centre and is open from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

The Cafeteria is open Monday to Friday for lunch, and closed on weekends. Hudson’s Café, located in the medical centre attached to the Public hospital, and the North West Private Café are also available.

The Rural Clinical School is located between the North West Private Hospital and the Public Hospital. Our Regional Training Hub office, as well as the Doctors Lounge, is located on level 1. Email us to get swipe card access.

Clinical services and facilities include:

• Department of Emergency Medicine
• ICU - Burnie ICU is a multidisciplinary critical care unit providing 24/7 care for patients with actual or impending life-threatening illness, serving both the North West region and key hospital services. We manage invasive and non-invasive ventilation, vasoactive support, sepsis/shock, post-operative critical care, and complex medical emergencies, with close integration with ED, surgery, anaesthetics and inpatient teams. Junior doctors are supported by an on-site ICU team and intensivist-led supervision, with a strong focus on safe escalation, structured handover, and evidence-based protocols. The unit prioritises patient-centred care, high-quality communication with families, and a culture of learning and teamwork.
• Department of Medicine - is staffed by four permanent General Physicians and includes subspecialists in Endocrinology, Cardiology, Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine, Nephrology and Gastroenterology
• The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is based at the North West Regional Hospital. It is a Level 4 Maternity Unit with around 1000 births per year and provides a comprehensive range of gynaecological services. Outpatient clinics (Antenatal and Gynaecology) are provided at North West Regional Hospital and also at Latrobe (Mersey Community Hospital), Smithton, King Island and Queenstown. The unit is staffed by 6 Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 5 Registrars and 3-4 Resident Medical Officers. The department is a RANZCOG-accredited training site.
• Department of Paediatric Medicine
• Department of Psychiatry
• Surgical and Perioperative Services – provides elective and emergency Orthopaedic, ENT and General Surgical Services, and is supported by an Anaesthetic Department to deliver 24 hr care to surgical patients in the North West. There are three orthopaedic registrars, four general surgical registrars and seven anaesthetic registrars.
• Radiology Services – I-Med Radiology provides inpatient and outpatient onsite services, including Xray, Ultrasound CT, MRI, minor Interventional procedures and Nuclear Medicine. Access patient imaging through https://i-med.com.au/resources/access-patient-images which requires you to set up an account with I-Med.
• Pathology Services – TML pathology provides inpatient and outpatient services.
• Cancer Centre – the North West Cancer Centre provides outpatient Medical  Oncology, Radiation Oncology and Clinical Haematology services run through the Northern Cancer Service, and delivers onsite chemotherapy, radiotherapy, iron infusions and outpatient appointments.

The private health system supports the delivery of healthcare to residents of North West Tasmania. The largest private provider in the North West is the North West Private Hospital in Burnie.

This 48-bed hospital provides medical, surgical, mental health and maternity services to the North West community.

Other specialist clinical services are delivered in licensed day facilities and at facilities providing services for patients with surgical, cancer, mental health and women’s health needs.