After nearly five decades of dedicated service to the communities of Peregian and Coolum, respected Sunshine Coast GP Dr Greg Beak is hanging up his stethoscope.
Now 74, Dr Beak has spent 47 of his 50-year medical career practising on the Sunshine Coast, helping generations of families and becoming a familiar face to many.
“I have been privileged to have been in a profession where a lot of my patients have become friends in a small community like this,“ he said.
Raised on a cattle property in Central Queensland, Dr Beak said his early life instilled the values of hard work and service.
“I came from the bush on a cattle property and knew what a hard life that was, so being encouraged by my parents, I progressed as far as I could academically.“
Just two and a half years after graduating from the University of Queensland Medical School, Dr Beak and fellow doctor Dr David Richards, along with Coolum pharmacist Andrew Zafir, made a bold move in 1978.
They secured a site on David Low Way, just two doors from where McDonald’s now stands, and gained council approval to establish what would become the Coolum Beach Medical Centre.
A year later, in 1979, the team opened a second clinic, the Peregian Beach Medical Centre.
In the early years, the doctors offered a comprehensive 24/7 medical service, working long hours while raising young families.
“I was a baby boomer and a part of the generation that aspired to be like the old time family GP who treated me growing up,“ Dr Beak said.
“So providing a 24/7 service seven days a week from the outset with a medical partner was quite an achievement. Initially that involved a one in two roster for 13 years, then a one in three for another seven years until I was instrumental with 10 local doctors in continuing an after hours service based at Noosa Hospital for 10 years on a one in 30 roster.“
After 25 years, plans to redevelop the Coolum practice were halted by council opposition, leading to the dissolution of the original partnership.
Dr Beak went on to work as a contracting GP at Suncoast Medical Centre in South Coolum, where he will still practice until the end of 2025.
In Peregian, he continued running the original medical centre until 2018, when he merged with Peregian Family Medical Centre.
He continued practicing there under its new name, The Peregian Beach Medical Centre. The practice is now owned by Dr Richard Barker, one of 10 doctors currently working at the clinic.
Over the decades, Dr Beak has witnessed significant changes in local healthcare, including the establishment of a local ambulance service, led by Stewart Sharp, in William Street, Coolum.
“Often either the practice nurse or the doctor would have to accompany seriously ill patients to hospital, whereas now there are paramedics,“ Dr Beak said.
Another major change has been the increase in specialist services, easing the burden on general practitioners.
Dr Beak said there were two major transitions in his own practice: ceasing after-hours care after 30 years, and more recently, stepping away from ownership to focus solely on patient care.
Now looking ahead, he plans to enjoy his retirement spending more time with wife Dorothy and extended family as well as playing tennis, snow skiing, and time spent on his Central Queensland cattle property.
He also plans to return to active involvement with the Coolum Beach Lions Club, where he was a founding member and has remained a Lion at large for two decades.
Though stepping away from medicine, Dr Beak says he will always call the Sunshine Coast home.
