Hobart Family Doctor's Practice, Tasmania

Origins and Vision (2001–2003)

The early 2000s marked a period of significant transformation in Tasmanian general practice. Across Australia, the traditional model of the solo practitioner operating from modest consulting rooms was giving way to larger, team-based clinics capable of offering more comprehensive services. Yet within this movement toward consolidation, a different vision was taking shape in the minds of two physicians who believed that medical care need not sacrifice intimacy for efficiency.

Dr Edward Hughes was a Hobart-born general practitioner whose formative years had been spent far from the comforts of Tasmania's capital. Following his medical training, Hughes had devoted nearly a decade to working in remote Northern Territory communities, where he witnessed firsthand the profound impact of culturally sensitive, relationship-based healthcare. The Indigenous health models he encountered in the Outback—which emphasised community engagement, trust-building, and continuity of care—left an indelible impression on his philosophy of practice. When he returned to Tasmania in the late 1990s, he carried with him a conviction that medicine at its best functioned not as a transaction but as a covenant between healer and patient.

Dr Amelia Atkins arrived in Hobart via a different route. An experienced family physician from Sydney, Atkins had built her reputation in the areas of preventative medicine, adolescent health, and health literacy. She understood that many medical problems could be avoided entirely through patient education and early intervention, and she had grown frustrated with a healthcare system that often waited for illness to manifest before offering meaningful engagement. Her encounters with Hughes at various medical conferences revealed a shared dissatisfaction with the status quo and a mutual desire to create something more thoughtful.

In 2001, Hughes and Atkins secured a parcel of land in South Hobart, nestled at the foothills of Mount Wellington—or kunanyi, as the mountain is known in recognition of the Muwinina people whose pathways once traversed this landscape. The location was deliberate. They envisioned a practice that would draw upon the restorative qualities of its setting, where patients could look up at the mountain's forested slopes and feel connected to something larger than their immediate concerns. The natural environment would not merely be a backdrop but an active participant in the healing process.

To realise this vision, they commissioned local architect Matthew Fairleigh to design a building that embodied their philosophy. Fairleigh drew upon natural forms and passive design principles, creating a sandstone structure whose warm honey tones echoed the colonial heritage of Hobart whilst remaining firmly rooted in its Tasmanian bushland surroundings. The building's orientation maximised natural light, its windows framing views of eucalyptus canopy and distant mountain slopes. When the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice opened its doors in early 2003, it comprised three consultation rooms, a small procedures suite, and a multi-purpose therapy space—modest in scale but ambitious in intention.

Community Roots and Early Growth (2003–2013)

From its earliest days, the practice distinguished itself through an approach to patient care that many in South Hobart had never experienced. Hughes and Atkins insisted upon unhurried consultations, encouraging patients to share not merely their symptoms but the circumstances of their lives. The founding physicians understood that illness rarely existed in isolation from employment anxieties, family tensions, or the quiet struggles that accompany aging. By attending to the whole person rather than merely the presenting complaint, they built relationships that endured across decades.

The practice quickly attracted a diverse patient base. Young families settling in the South Hobart area found a welcoming environment for their children's vaccinations and developmental checks. Elderly residents of Battery Point and Sandy Bay, some of whom had grown disillusioned with impersonal medical encounters elsewhere, discovered physicians who remembered their names and took genuine interest in their wellbeing. New immigrants navigating the complexities of the Australian healthcare system appreciated the patience with which staff explained procedures and entitlements.

Central to this atmosphere of warmth was Mrs Claire O'Riley, the practice's original receptionist. O'Riley possessed the rare gift of making each patient feel individually valued from the moment they crossed the threshold. Her memory for names, birthdays, and personal circumstances became legendary among the practice's growing community. Patients who had experienced the sterile efficiency of other clinics marvelled at being greeted by someone who inquired after their grandchildren or recalled the outcome of a surgery discussed months earlier. O'Riley's presence set a tone that subsequent staff members would strive to maintain.

As patient numbers grew, so too did the clinical team. Dr Narelle Chan joined the practice, bringing specialist expertise in women's health and antenatal care. Her presence proved particularly valuable for the young families who had become a significant portion of the practice's patient base, and her gentle manner put expectant mothers at ease during what could be an anxious period. Dr Phillip Kerr followed, introducing minor skin surgery and men's health checks—areas that had previously required referral to specialists or the Royal Hobart Hospital. Kerr's addition meant that many patients could receive comprehensive care without leaving the familiar surroundings of the practice.

The appointment of Nurse Practitioner Judith Lowe in 2008 marked another milestone in the practice's development. Lowe helped implement the clinic's first chronic disease management clinics, establishing structured programmes for patients with diabetes, heart conditions, and other long-term health concerns. These initiatives represented a departure from the reactive model of care that dominated much of general practice, instead offering proactive monitoring and education that could prevent complications and improve quality of life.

The practice also established itself as a field placement site for nursing and medical students from the University of Tasmania. Hughes and Atkins believed strongly in contributing to the next generation of Tasmanian clinicians, and the practice's integrative approach offered students exposure to a model of care they might not encounter in larger institutional settings. Several graduates of these placements would later cite their time at the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice as formative in shaping their own medical philosophies.

Leadership Transition and Modernisation (2014–2018)

By the mid-2010s, the practice faced challenges common to successful medical clinics: how to maintain its distinctive character whilst adapting to the technological and administrative demands of contemporary healthcare. The solution arrived in the form of Debbie Lidgard, appointed as Practice Manager in 2014.

Lidgard brought to the role more than fifteen years of experience spanning public hospitals and private practice across New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. Born in Sydney on 15 March 1978, she had completed a Bachelor of Health Administration at the University of New South Wales before working her way through progressively senior administrative positions. Her tenure at the Launceston Medical Centre had demonstrated her capacity to enhance patient services whilst ensuring regulatory compliance, and her relocation to Hobart offered both a career advancement and a return to the island state she had grown to love.

Under Lidgard's stewardship, the practice underwent significant operational modernisation without sacrificing the personal touch that had defined its identity. She oversaw the transition to a fully integrated electronic health records system, a change that improved the coordination of care between practitioners and reduced the administrative burden that had increasingly weighed upon the clinical staff. More notably, she established telehealth capabilities well ahead of their widespread adoption across Australian general practice—a decision that would prove prescient when circumstances later demanded remote consultation options.

In 2016, Lidgard launched a new patient engagement platform that included secure messaging and online appointment bookings. These digital innovations significantly improved access for working families who struggled to telephone during business hours and for elderly patients whose adult children could now assist with scheduling from distant locations. Yet Lidgard ensured that technology served rather than supplanted human connection. Patients who preferred traditional telephone bookings or face-to-face reception encounters found these options remained available, and staff were trained to guide less technologically confident patients through the new systems with patience and encouragement.

Lidgard's commitment to professional development extended beyond her own credentials—she achieved her Certified Practice Manager certification from the Australian Association of Practice Management in 2018—to encompass the broader staff. She introduced structured mentorship programmes for younger employees, recognising that administrative roles in healthcare offered meaningful career pathways for those willing to pursue further education. Among those she mentored was Michelle Robinson, who had joined the practice as a receptionist in 2018 after completing her Diploma of Practice Management. Under Lidgard's guidance, Robinson enrolled in a part-time Bachelor of Health Science degree at the University of Tasmania, combining her work at the practice with studies in health promotion and community health.

The De Bruyn Era and Integrative Medicine (2016–2018)

The arrival of Dr Glenda De Bruyn in 2016 introduced a transformative dimension to the practice's already distinctive approach to care. Born in Zürich, Switzerland, on 12 April 1973, De Bruyn had trained in both conventional allopathic medicine and complementary therapeutic modalities. Her career had taken her through humanitarian missions in Borneo and South America, where she had worked alongside her future husband, Dr Pierre De Bruyn, a virologist who would later join the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research. The couple had settled in Tasmania in 2005, drawn by the island's natural beauty and the opportunity to establish more permanent roots after years of transient fieldwork.

At the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice, De Bruyn quickly became known for consultations that transcended conventional general practice encounters. She introduced integrative approaches that combined rigorous clinical diagnostics with lifestyle counselling, mindfulness techniques, and gentle manual therapies. For patients suffering from chronic pain—a condition that often resisted purely pharmaceutical intervention—she offered acupuncture and mindfulness workshops that addressed the psychological dimensions of persistent discomfort. Her consulting room, filled with natural light, herbal reference texts, and hand-thrown pottery mugs, became a local fixture whose atmosphere patients described as therapeutic in itself.

Those who consulted with De Bruyn frequently described her approach as "medical listening"—an attention that extended beyond the identification of symptoms to encompass the stories patients carried with them. She understood that illness existed within the context of lived experience, and she created space for patients to explore how their physical complaints connected to emotional burdens, relational difficulties, or spiritual unease. For many, her consultations represented the first time a medical professional had asked not merely what was wrong with their bodies but what was happening in their lives.

De Bruyn's influence extended throughout the practice. Other practitioners began incorporating elements of her integrative philosophy into their own consultations, and the multi-purpose therapy space that Hughes and Atkins had included in the original building design found fuller utilisation than ever before. The practice's reputation for holistic care attracted patients from beyond South Hobart, including some who travelled considerable distances for the distinctive approach De Bruyn embodied.

Yet the circumstances of her departure from the practice would cast a long shadow over this otherwise bright chapter. On 25 July 2018, during what should have been an unremarkable consultation, events unfolded that would leave the practice community grappling with questions that could not be answered through medical reasoning alone.

The Crisis of July 2018

The summer of 2018 proved a watershed moment not only for the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice but for Tasmania more broadly. A series of disappearances and deaths shook the institutions that had long maintained order in the state capital, raising questions about forces operating beyond public awareness. The practice found itself unexpectedly entangled in these unsettling events.

On 25 July, an elderly patient named Clyde Alwyn Thompson presented at the clinic with a severe and persistent cough. Thompson was a familiar figure in Hobart's community—a retired farmer, self-taught artist, and widower who had relocated to the city following his wife Mary's death in 2008. His symptoms appeared consistent with pneumonia or bronchitis, yet something about his presentation concerned De Bruyn sufficiently to conduct additional diagnostic procedures.

What followed defied normal medical protocol. Before De Bruyn could complete her assessment, military officers from the Portal Defence Corps—a shadowy entity linked to the containment of anomalous biothreat activity—entered the consultation room and demanded Thompson's removal from the clinic. Despite the patient testing negative for whatever pathogen the authorities feared, the officers insisted upon taking him into custody. Witnesses to the intervention, including clinic staff, described the encounter as surreal and deeply unsettling—the intrusion of institutional force into a space devoted to healing.

The incident with Thompson proved to be merely the prelude to a more dramatic departure. Later that same day, De Bruyn herself vanished from her consulting room. Her handbag, stethoscope, and clinical notes remained on her desk; her final entry in the clinic's log system noted the arrival of another patient, Luke Smith. She was never seen on Earth again.

The circumstances of De Bruyn's disappearance remained officially classified as "unexplained departure" in Tasmanian medical records. Her husband, Pierre De Bruyn, filed no missing persons report—an omission that generated quiet speculation within the Hobart medical community but no formal investigation. By year's end, her position at the practice had been quietly vacated, and those who inquired were met with vague explanations and uncomfortable silences.

For the practice itself, the events of July 2018 marked a moment of institutional reflection. The intrusion of military authority into clinical space, the unexplained removal of a vulnerable patient, and the sudden loss of a valued colleague reinforced the delicate balance between medical practice and the wider structures of power within which healthcare necessarily operates. Some staff members reported a shift in atmosphere following De Bruyn's departure—a palpable void in the clinic's spiritual texture that persisted long after practical accommodations had been made.

Continuity and Present Operations (2019–Present)

Despite the trauma of 2018, the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice demonstrated the resilience that had characterised its founding ethos. Under Debbie Lidgard's continued leadership, the clinic maintained its operations and gradually rebuilt the sense of community that the year's events had disrupted.

The practice today remains one of the most sought-after clinics in Hobart, its reputation founded upon the principles that Hughes and Atkins established more than two decades earlier. Continuity of care across life stages remains paramount; patients who first attended as children now bring their own families, and elderly patients receive the attentive support that enables independent living. The integration of evidence-based complementary therapies, though necessarily diminished following De Bruyn's departure, continues to inform clinical approaches, and patient involvement in care planning distinguishes consultations from the more directive encounters typical of time-pressured medical practice.

Current senior general practitioners include Dr Samuel Revell, known for his quiet efficiency in managing the complexities of elderly care, and Dr Layla Hocking, who has spearheaded the practice's mental health strategy in the challenging years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Both physicians have embraced the practice's founding philosophy whilst bringing their own expertise and perspectives to the clinical team.

The practice maintains active partnerships with Hobart's broader healthcare ecosystem and civic community. Annual health fairs conducted in partnership with the Hobart City Council offer screening services and health education to residents who might not otherwise access preventative care. Collaboration with the Tasmanian Refugee Health Network ensures culturally appropriate primary care for newly arrived families navigating unfamiliar systems. These initiatives reflect the practice's ongoing commitment to serving not merely individual patients but the community within which it is embedded.

Michelle Robinson continues her work as receptionist whilst pursuing her Bachelor of Health Science degree, embodying the practice's investment in professional development. Other staff members, some of whom have served since the clinic's early years, provide continuity that patients value highly in an era of frequent practitioner turnover. The atmosphere of warmth that Claire O'Riley first established remains palpable to those who enter through the sandstone building's doors.

The Building and Its Setting

The physical environment of the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice remains integral to its therapeutic approach. Matthew Fairleigh's sandstone building has weathered more than two decades, its honey-coloured walls gaining character from the Tasmanian climate. The structure sits harmoniously within its bushland surroundings, native vegetation pressing close to its boundaries and eucalyptus canopy filtering the light that enters through generous windows.

The location at the foothills of Mount Wellington continues to shape patient experience. The mountain's presence—visible from the waiting area and consultation rooms alike—offers a perspective that transcends immediate concerns. Patients have described the sensation of looking up at kunanyi's slopes as grounding, a reminder of continuities that outlast individual illness or distress. The founding physicians' intention that the natural environment participate actively in healing finds ongoing expression in this relationship between building and landscape.

Internal spaces have evolved to accommodate expanded services whilst maintaining the original design's emphasis on comfort and restoration. The multi-purpose therapy space hosts the mindfulness sessions and complementary therapies that De Bruyn introduced, now led by visiting practitioners. Consultation rooms retain the natural light and thoughtful proportions that distinguish the building from more utilitarian medical facilities.

Legacy and Reflection

The Hobart Family Doctor's Practice enters its third decade as an institution conscious of its complex history. The vision of Hughes and Atkins—to create a sanctuary rather than merely a service—has proven remarkably durable, surviving leadership transitions, technological transformation, and the traumatic events that marked its fifteenth year of operation. The principles upon which the practice was founded—compassion, attentiveness, and wellness across the whole person—continue to guide clinical encounters and administrative decisions alike.

During the clinic's twentieth anniversary celebration in 2023, Debbie Lidgard offered a reflection that captured something essential about the institution she had helped to shape:

"Ours is not just a workplace, and these are not just patients. This place is a stitched-together community—a place where healing is measured not just by blood pressure, but by belonging."

The sandstone walls have witnessed births and deaths, diagnoses that changed lives and recoveries that defied expectation. They have sheltered grief, laughter, reconciliation, and moments of profound transformation. They have also witnessed events that resist easy explanation—the intrusion of forces that operated beyond the clinic's capacity to understand or resist. In this complexity, the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice reflects something true about medicine itself: that healing unfolds not in controlled conditions but amid the full messiness of human existence, with all its beauty and darkness intertwined.

The practice continues its work, offering an alternative to transactional medicine in a healthcare system increasingly dominated by efficiency metrics and time constraints. For those who pass through its doors seeking care, it remains what its founders intended: a place of restoration, grounded in community, attentive to story, and open to possibilities that extend beyond the strictly clinical. As Mount Wellington watches over the city below and the Derwent flows toward the Southern Ocean, the Hobart Family Doctor's Practice carries forward its mission of healing—never complete, always in process, shaped by those who have served within its walls and those yet to arrive.