Gungahlin GPs Mel and John Deery will own and operate the medical facility at the corner of Gundaroo Drive and Abena Avenue, which is being designed to initially house five GPs as well as physiotherapy and pathology services.

The couple plan to expand the medical centre in a second phase of construction to make room for other allied health professionals including a dentist and nutritionist.

Dr Mel Deery says it is exciting for her and her husband to be building their own practice, which she hoped would be a “valuable, lasting community legacy.”

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be coming to Crace and to be developing our very own medical centre in a region where we have lived and worked for so many years,” Dr Deery says.

“The Gungahlin area is under resourced from a medical perspective – there is always a need for more GPs wherever you are – so our plan is to provide high quality medical and health care services in a modern environment that is easy to access and close to other facilities.”

Crace project director Malcolm Leslie says that several other facilities are planned for the new suburb, including a Goodwin Aged Care development with 140 independent living units for seniors later this year, and an 84-place Oorama Education childcare centre by 2014.