With a passion for obstetrics, women's health, paediatrics and quality rural medicine, they embarked on creating a medical clinic where patient experience was the focus.
From opening day, it was only a few short weeks before the Clinic was in full swing and the patient load was long and arduous to manage alone. Some days Kris would have a full day in theatre and then an evening of emergency appointments - with Kris and Sal not finishing till 8/9pm more than once or twice a week for a year or two... but love of the job kept them going along with the hope of another GP joining our team! In 2012 Boston Bay Family Health Practice was accredited as a training post & accepted their first registrar placement. Then in 2015 Dr Janssen joined as a qualified GP anesthetist. Now, just shy of 10 years since that first day in February 2009 they boast 2 full time GPs, 3 full time GP Registrars, an intern and medical student placements along with 5 nursing staff and 4 administration staff - and they couldn’t be more proud of how far they have come!
Sometimes still kicking in a 8pm finish for old times sake - maybe once or twice a year - but mostly its just Kris and Janssen being called to the hospital at all hours of the night to provide anaesthetics for medical emergencies or deliver a baby or 2.
The first year Kris delivered 40 babies, the following year and in 2011 it was 80, and every year since then its been 140 babies each year plus a number of others who are required to go to Adelaide for delivery but receive care by BBFHP during their pregnancy, aswell as for the babies on their return.
Nursing staff includes 2 midwives, Katie & Marika, who also work at the Port Lincoln Hospital. Boston Bay Family Health Practice love that they can give their obstetrics patients the continuity of care, & hopefully, deliver with Kris and her team, whom they have been able to see numerous times in clinic setting over their pregnancy.
In 2017 Katie completed her eligible Midwife registration enabling the practice to add thier own community postnatal care services, and this is set to expand this in 2018 as Marika is finalising eligible midwife accreditaton as well. You can read more about the obstetric services here.
The increasing workload in Obstetrics and General patients has enabled Boston Bay Family Health Practice to increase our nursing, midwife & administration staffing as well, quickly outgrowing the original premises in 2014 resulting in the purchase, renovation and relocation to the current building at 10 new west road.
Where there's a Bascomb, there’s always a story... and at 10 new west road the stories are numerous and Interesting. The building was the original Doctor's surgery of Port Lincoln, built in 1926. It’s worn many hats in its long life - a bed and breakfast, a Lawyer's Office, a back packers, a natural health centre and a home for many years - before it was purchased by Dr Bascomb & her husband, and renovated in an authentic and respectful way in 2014, restored back to its former elegance and grandeur.
Within a few short months of being in the new building, it was full. Staff once again outnumbered consulting rooms. The extension of the practice was always the plan, albeit not quite as large as it turned out, with an additional 8 consulting rooms and a massive waiting room & new staff room. Boston Bay Family Health Practice's hope, is that the construction will be finalised in late April & ready to occupy from mid may 2018. This represents a $2 million commitment to the Health care of the lower Eyre Peninsula by a private family - the Bascomb family.
BBFHP (as its affectionately know in house) is now home to 17 staff and - if you ask them - the best place on earth to work! There’s always a laugh & a friendly face at Boston Bay! The culture and atmosphere is a testament to the incredible staff, who are all amazing people, unbelievably good looking, ridiculously funny and all who work tirelessly to meet the needs of their Patients. Especially those admin staff who never complain when Kris - yet again - reschedules the appointment book to deliver a Baby in the middle of an already rescheduled consulting day from Yesterday's baby.
