Dubbo Medical and Allied Health Group has been contracted by the federal government to diagnose and treat people suffering from respiratory illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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It will run one of Australia's 100 "GP-led COVID-19 respiratory clinics" where patients will not be charged for treatments or tests.
The clinic will be established at Dubbo Medical and Allied Health Group premises at 183 Brisbane Street and opened in the "near future".
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It seeks to take the pressure off Dubbo Hospital's Emergency Department (ED) and other GP practices.
Between mid-March and early April, presentations to the ED's Stand-Alone Fever Flu Evaluation (SAFFE) clinic exceeded 500.
The SAFFE clinic formed part of the hospital's preparations for the pandemic.
Its director of emergency medicine Dr Daniel Stewart is playing an advisory role in the setting up of the clinic in Dubbo's central business district.
The federal government is spending $206.7 million on the GP-led respiratory clinics.
It has rolled out 34 of them to date, 10 in regional communities including Mittagong and Wagga Wagga in NSW.
On Wednesday, federal Member for Parkes and Minister for Regional Health Mark Coulton announced "contracts have been signed" for the Dubbo clinic.
"These respiratory clinics will be best placed to support people with a fever, cough, sore throat and other respiratory symptoms and will help to avoid the risk of infection in our local communities," the minister said.
Mr Coulton has met with Dr Stewart and Dubbo Medical and Allied Health Group director Dr Sunil Jacob at the Brisbane Street premises, which are being modified to accommodate the clinic.
Dr Jacob said the clinic would treat people presenting with any mild-to-moderate respiratory symptoms while the hospital would attend to "severe" cases.
