Dr Tom Challenger honoured by White Pages

2013/14 Gold Coast White Pagess®
Dr Tom Challenger

A commitment to improving the health of his region has landed Gold Coast general practitioner Dr Tom Challenger the cover of this year’s Gold Coast White Pages®.

Dr Challenger is recognised under the theme, Keeping Our Communities Healthy, as founder of Medcall, a medical service that provides after-hours house calls to more than 300 Gold Coast residents per night.

In 2000, after his grandfather died late at night, Dr Challenger established Medcall, a bulk-billing after-hours medical service that makes house calls. Volunteering his services, Dr Challenger would drive up and down the Gold Coast, supported by just one other doctor, to attend to people in need for hours on end.

Since its inception, Dr Challenger has grown Medcall into a key community service helping to take the strain off local hospitals and ambulances. Now with 38 doctors, Medcall provides medical attention to approximately 300 people each night who live between Beenleigh and Coolangatta.

When not on-call himself, Dr Challenger is working on plans to roll out similar services in other cities.

With Medcall operating 365 days of the year, Dr Challenger is a dedicated GP giving locals lifesaving care when they need it.

“On a personal level I know how crucial after-hours medical service is, so providing such important care to homes all over the Gold Coast is very rewarding. Being selected for the White Pages cover for something I’m so passionate about is quite humbling,” Dr Challenger said.