Heart of Australia Founder Dr Rolf Gomes and CEO of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business Tyler Mitchelson announce a new partnership that will expand specialist medical services across Central Queensland.

Since commencing operations in October 2014, Heart of Australia has provided life-saving health services to regional Queenslanders aboard its customised specialist medical clinics-on-wheels.

Commencing in 2020, the $1 million partnership will support Heart of Australia in delivering specialist services to the towns of Moura, Banana, Theodore and Middlemount for the first time ever.

Specialist services currently being delivered by Heart of Australia include cardiology, gynaecology, neurology, gastroenterology, urology, sleep studies, respiratory services, and endocrinology.

Heart of Australia Founder and cardiologist, Dr Rolf Gomes, welcomed the partnership and acknowledged Anglo American's support for the vision of equitable access to healthcare for all Australians.

"This new partnership is a great example of like-minded organisations coming together to deliver tangible outcomes for our regional communities,” Dr Gomes said. 

“We are very pleased to be entering this partnership with Anglo American, which supports our big-picture efforts while also providing direct services to the local communities of Moura, Banana, Theodore and Middlemount. 

"Every time we expand our services to a new location, we have the potential to change and save lives for the community who live there. People who have often gone without specialist services for years, or who have needed to travel hundreds of kilometres at significant expense to access them.

"At Heart of Australia, our vision is to ensure all Australians have access to quality medical specialist services and we’re grateful to have the support of an organisation that understands how important access to good healthcare is.”

Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American’s Metallurgical Coal business, Tyler Mitchelson, said the company was proud to be supporting such a critical service. 

“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with Heart of Australia, who deliver life-saving specialist medical services to regional Queensland,” Mr Mitchelson said. 

“We’re committed members of the communities where we operate, and we understand how critical it is for those in rural communities to have access to health services when and where they need them most. 

“We have seen the benefits of Heart of Australia’s services first-hand in Moranbah, where two of our mines are located, and it was important to us to see these services made available to the rest of the communities where we operate - Moura, Banana, Theodore and Middlemount.

“Supporting thriving communities is a key pillar of our global Sustainable Mining Plan, and this partnership provides a meaningful way for us to better support the people who live and work in the Bowen Basin.”

Heart of Australia delivers quality, specialist medical services to Australians living in regional, rural and remote communities. Since Heart of Australia commenced operations in 2014, they have seen over 8,000 patients and potentially helped save over 350 lives.

Their innovative delivery approach involves taking specialist medical services to the people who need them on a fleet of custom-designed mobile medical clinics and they currently operate two full-size mobile medical clinics, HEART 1 and HEART 2 and a mini mobile clinic, HEART 3.

Anglo American is a leading global mining company, with significant investments within Australia and particularly in Queensland. The company operates five metallurgical coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, which produce and export highest quality hard coking coal for use in steel production for critical building and infrastructure around the world, as well as steel components for trucks and medical equipment.

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