I am an Australian public health physician working as Director of Medical Services at a medium-sized public facility in Newcastle, New South Wales. As well as its university teaching hospital role, the Calvary Mater Newcastle is the tertiary cancer care and research centre for a population of about 900,000 people spread across an area the size of England (providing more than 300,000 outpatient services annually). Local primary care organisations, our hospital and the wider public health authority are working together to better integrate health care services for our community.