How this GP has held together his practice for vulnerable patients without Medicare
While proud of his work, Dr Lester Masceranhas worries that burnout will eventually force him to move on.
For a decade, Dr Lester Mascarenhas has asked the government to help fund his clinic for asylum seekers and refugees without success.
So it was ironic when the GP was declared a “Medicare Champion” by the Minister for Health and Aged Care this month when many of his patient lack Medicare cards.
“If the award was made of gold, I would have sold it to fund the clinic,” Dr Mascarenhas tells AusDoc.
He worries that within five years he will close his clinic, called Utopia, because of burnout.
