The companies which operated a chain of GP clinics in Queensland have entered administration, with thousands owed to creditors.
Former GP corporate DoctorLink, which operated 13 practices across South East Queensland, has officially entered liquidation.
The clinics themselves were acquired by corporate Family Doctor in late 2024, but the individual companies that operated each of the clinics were not included.
It is the former operating company which is in hot water; DoctorLink Holdings Pty Ltd, now named DL Aspley Pty Ltd, entered external administration on 29 May.
The DoctorLink clinics sold to Family Doctor are not affected by their former operator’s liquidation and remain open.
According to documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission this month, DL Aspley is owed roughly $14.6 million by nine of its clinic operating companies.
One of the operating companies alone has an outstanding loan of more than $8.5m.
The total estimated amount realisable across all nine loans is $0.
Meanwhile, the company owes about $9.5m to 17 creditors, 11 of which were individual DoctorLink clinic operating companies.
DL Aspley (formerly DoctorLink Holdings) owes Family Doctor $185,000.
It also owes the Australian Taxation Office and the Queensland Revenue Office a combined $249,000.
Related
Queensland’s state revenue office has a blanket exemption on payroll tax for general practices going forward, and allowed individual practices to apply for amnesty from past payroll tax liabilities until November 2023.
In terms of assets, DL Aspley has just over $400,000 in the bank.
The GP corporate’s website is still live, though most pages now redirect to the Family Doctor site.
According to the site, founding director Joe Barbagallo started his career in pharmaceuticals before moving into pathology and medical services.
“This is where he saw the need to change the focus from corporate to a patient-centred environment,” the site said.
“Joe wanted to open medical centres that genuinely cared for patients and ensured the focus was on preventative medicine.”
DL Aspley does not owe any money to its former employees.
Its collapse follows that of regional corporate Tristar Medical Group in 2022. At the time it went into administration, Tristar had debts of about $23m and operated about 12 clinics.
The Medical Republic contacted DL Aspley and its administrators for comment.
