Gungahlin will receive a multi-million dollar healthcare boost when the ACT government reveals its annual budget early next week.
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Territory Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris announced on Wednesday that $13.5 million had been set aside to build and run a new nurse walk-in centre in the region.
The centre would employ between 11 and 12 nurses and would be open every day of the week, Ms Fitzharris said.
"Nurse walk-in centres are becoming a really important part of the healthcare system in the ACT," she said.
"Labor's plan is to deliver healthcare where people need, when they need it, particularly after hours and in the regions."
Ms Fitzharris made the announcement during a visit to the Gungahlin Community Health Centre, which was potentially the site where the walk-in facility would be built.
"The budget will be approving around $14 million dollars, with around $13.5 million for the Gungahlin centre," she said.
"Around $3.5 million will be spent to construct it adjacent to or on the site of the [existing] Gungahlin Community Health Centre.
"The remaining funding will go towards operating the centre going forward."
The government has also set aside $500,000 to design and plan two more nurse walk-in centres in the Weston Creek region and in the city's inner north, Ms Fitzharris said.
Walk-in centres provide free one-off advice for the treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, according to ACT Health's website.
Canberra currently has centres in Belconnen and Tuggeranong, which have treated a combined 36,000 people in 2017.
"We see that people come into these centres for a range of reasons," Ms Fitzharris said.
"They do take some pressure off the emergency departments, as well as providing services in a certain gap in the health care system as well.
"It is just another way of providing health care services to Canberrans, no matter where they live."
The Gungahlin announcement follows a flurry of activity within the health portfolio ahead of the budget.
On Tuesday Ms Fitzharris announced the ACT government would be funding a million-dollar grants pool to encourage bulk-billing doctors to expand their practices.
She was heavily critical of the Commonwealth government when she discussed the bulk-billing initiative on Wednesday.
"We have recognised that we can assist in areas – particularly bulk billing practices – because the commonwealth simply isn't doing enough," she said.
"The ACT government does have some concerns about the Commonwealth's commitment to health funding, and the Commonwealth's commitment to making sure that Medicare remains the backbone of our health system."
