About us
RARMS is a 20-year-old Australian charity - we work for rural health, not for profit. We provide rural and remote communities with vital health, medical and social services.
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Rural and Remote Medical Services
Rural and Remote Medical Services (RARMS) was established as a charity in 2001 by a group of dedicated rural doctors with the support of rural and remote communities.
These doctors saw first-hand the devastating impact of the withdrawal and centralisation of hospital services in their communities.
Today we support over 22,000 people across 40 communities, providing vital health, medical and social services. A quarter of the people we support are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.
Across Australia, rural and remote communities are losing their local health centres due to doctor and nursing shortages. Often, once a town loses their health centre they will never get it back.
At RARMS, our goal is to help our communities recruit doctors and nurses and to run sustainable local health centres, so services are not lost forever.
RARMS does not receive government funding to help this goal. We rely on the support of donors, foundations, businesses, and any income we generate from business activities. This includes our Balmain medical practice Village Health, where 100% of the profits subsidise services in rural and remote communities.
We also rely on the support of our local communities. By using our services they allow us to generate income needed to sustain practices and recruitment.
Our staff work tirelessly every day on behalf of rural and remote people to keep local health centres going and to provide access to health care when it is needed.
Our Vision
Healthy rural and remote communities
Our Values
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Purposeful
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Patient and Community Centred
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Innovative
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Cooperative
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Agile
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Ethical
Our Objectives
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Delivering innovative and integrated health and medical workforce solutions, including Telehealth, to help rural and remote communities to access services and attract local GPs and practice staff.
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Working with our communities to help them develop and maintain high quality health, medical and social service centres in rural and remote locations.
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Diversifying our revenue streams, delivering cost-effective and integrated services and building robust information management systems to monitor and measure performance and support continuous improvement.
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Growing our reputation for innovation, access and outcomes and bringing the voice of rural, remote and Indigenous Australians into the health decision-making process.
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Meet our people
Our Board & Leadership Team
Our Board and Leadership team is made up of passionate leaders who bring knowledge, expertise, and years of experience to RARMS.
Our Clinical Governance Team
Our Board and Leadership team is made up of passionate leaders who bring knowledge, expertise, and years of experience to RARMS.