Our Team
Dr Jared Kilday
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Jared moved to Victoria in 2009 after completing his Medical degree at the University of Otago. Jared has always had a strong interest in rural health and takes great pride in providing exceptional healthcare to those living in our small regional community.
He began his GP journey in Creswick, just outside of Ballarat and whilst there enjoyed doing locum work around the state, including Gippsland, the high country and the coast. Jared also worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill and enjoyed doing emergency retrievals from remote stations and providing much needed healthcare to people in the outback.
Now, with a young family, Jared’s work is a little less adventurous, but he still has a strong passion for delivering high quality healthcare for those living in the region. The owner of the practice since 2017, Jared balances his busy work life, by farming cattle on his small farm just outside Birregurra.
A keen rugby player in his youth, he loves sport and has worked as a club doctor for various AFL and AFLW teams and is a keen supporter and sponsor of the Birregurra Football Netball Club. These days, contact sports are a thing of the past and Jared loves running on the quiet country roads surrounding Birregurra.
Jared is available for appointments Monday to Friday each week.
Dr Carol Head
Carol Head has worked as a General Practitioner for over thirty years in a variety of practices both rural and urban. A highly experienced GP, Carol has a holistic approach to medicine. When not working, Carol likes to write books, reading, walking, swimming at the beach, and growing her own food.
Carol has worked in San Remo, Newhaven and Philip Island. In 2021, Carol joined Birregurra Medical Centre as an independent health practitioner when she moved to the Pennyroyal Raspberry farm.
Appointments for Carol are available on Mondays and Wednesdays (9am to 5pm) and Thursday afternoons – 2pm to 5pm.
Abbey Gannon
Practice Nurse
Working as a nurse since 2004, Abbey considers it an absolute privilege to care for people in their time of need. Abbey attained her undergraduate nursing degree from Deakin University and then went on to complete her graduate degree in Midwifery from Federation University in Ballarat.
Abbey has a passion for caring for people and enjoys working with individuals to optimise their health. She enjoys all aspects of nursing and has a strong interest in women and children’s health and providing antenatal care.
Abbey grew up in Colac and loves being part of a medical centre that provides high quality health services to those in her community. She loves the diversity of the practice nurse role at Birregurra Medical Centre and on any given day applies her skills and knowledge in a range of areas, including chronic disease management, immunisations, wound dressings, injury management, or assisting with a procedure, to name just a few.
When not at work, Abbey enjoys a busy family life. She loves running and netball as well as socialising with her family and friends.
Narelle Place
Practice Nurse
Narelle grew up on a dairy farm at Pomborneit and after completing her nursing studies at the University of Ballarat, Narelle went on to complete a graduate certificate degree in Haematology and Oncology at the University of Sydney.
She has worked at Barwon Health since graduating and has specialist skills in Haematology and Apheresis. Narelle also gained valuable experience in her role at the Andrew Love Cancer Centre.
Working as a practice nurse at Birregurra Medical Centre, Narelle enjoys getting to know patients, their families and providing continuity of care to those in the community. She loves learning new skills and is proud of the wide range of high-quality services the team provide.
Outside of work, Narelle is busy with her young daughter and enjoys staying fit and playing netball for Birregurra.
Matthew Payton
Podiatrist
With over 15 years of experience working as a podiatrist, Matthew brings a wealth of experience to his role as an independent health practitioner at Birregurra Medical Centre.
He holds graduate degree qualifications in both podiatry and human movement sciences and has a special interest in peripheral biomechanics and linked pathology.
Matthew’s treatment philosophy focuses on optimising functional capacity within the existing anatomical framework and limitations.
In his younger years, Matthew excelled in sport and enjoyed success as an elite athlete and went on to be an AFL boundary umpire. He is now a keen surfer and mountain biker and makes the most of the world class surf breaks and mountain bike trails in our local area. His personal experience as an athlete and now as someone who enjoys recreational sports compliments his professional philosophies and continues to influence his management recommendations.
Matt provides podiatry services, including foot care, orthotic management, wound dressing, diabetes care, footwear prescription, and foot and lower limb injury management.
Matt is available for appointments each Monday and every second Wednesday.
Chris Bentley
Practice Manager
Kathy Steenholdt
Reception
Judy Brain
Reception