Acoastal town is facing the prospect of its medical clinic closing due to the impending departure of its two GPs.

Beachport Medical Services has announced it will close on December 16 unless it is able to fill the positions left by the two departing doctors.

Patients have been notified with a sign at the entrance to the practice stating it is “due to the inability to obtain replacement doctors”.

More than 100 comments have been generated on the Beachport Community social media page when contributor Megan Brennan asked if folks were aware of the closure.

“I rang them to see about an appointment, to be given the news,” she said.

Beachport resident and Beachport Community page administrator Heather Burdon said the community certainly needed to take an interest and be represented at an upcoming public meeting.

“The future of our local medical clinic and ongoing health care requirement currently remains in limbo.

“We cannot and will not lose this lifeline in Beachport without a fight,” she said.

On its website the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency lists two positions available at the coastal town.

The clinic is looking for two Vocationally Registered (VR) or non-VR GPs with the flexibility of being full-time or part-time.

Standard work hours include up to nine sessions per week during consulting hours, Monday to Friday, with no on-call hours required.

The role provides primary health care services to patients from Beachport and surrounding communities.

Without the Beachport service the nearest clinics are in Millicent and Robe, up to 50km away.

However, both clinics are fully booked, including their online booking system through HotDoc is unavailable to take new bookings.

The Medical Clinic Millicent opens limited appointments daily but requires a phone call in the morning to see a doctor the same day.

Beachport Medical Services is part of the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, which also has practices in Robe, Kingston, Lucindale and Padthaway.

The health network will provide an opportunity for the public to raise questions relating to the upcoming closure at two public meetings of its governing board on November 28.

It is at these meetings the public is encouraged to submit questions relating to health services across the region.

This can include, but is not limited to, the announcement of the closure of the Beachport clinic.

Questions at the public meeting will be addressed by the governing board panel, including chairperson Grant King and chief executive Ngaire Buchanan.

Guest speaker Mental Health director Pauline Beach has been invited to provide a presentation on mental health services and to answer questions.

The first session will be from 12pm to 1pm and the second session from 5pm to 6pm.

As seating is limited registration will be required through EventBrite.

An informal farewell for departing doctors Fahana Akhter and Pauline Wachtel and medical staff will be held on November 26.