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27/02/26
How Maclean Radiology helped its community
Disrupting for good: How NAB helped enable a new model for regional healthcare access
When the only radiology clinic in the small northern NSW town of Maclean burned down in late 2022, locals were left with few options for basic X-rays or scans. Some families in nearby Yamba were suddenly driving hours just to treat a fractured finger. For many, accessing essential imaging became unworkable.
Local nurse Haley Hodgson saw the impact firsthand.
“Many of my patients were falling through the cracks,” she says. “With the extra time and cost of travelling to regional centres to access radiology services some were simply going without. You’ve got a 14-year-old in a moonboot waiting eight weeks to get a scan - something had to change.”
With no private provider willing to rebuild in Maclean, and state services stretched thin, Haley decided to do what no nurse in the region had done before. She set out to build a bulk-billed, full-service radiology hub for her community.
Knowing she couldn’t do it alone, Haley partnered with experienced local radiographer Lindsay McLennan. Together, they spent 18 months approaching major radiology groups in search of support.
"I called all the corporates, the regional operators, to see if anyone was interested but no one wanted to touch it,” Haley recalls. “We weren’t quite Sydney or Queensland. Everyone said ‘no’. So, I thought, maybe we just do it ourselves.”
But funding the idea brought its own set of challenges. With no trading history, the clinic was considered a start-up. And because it was nurse-led - not the typical doctor-led model - Haley and Lindsay didn’t fit the conventional borrower profile.
After months of setbacks, Haley and Lindsay turned to broker Sarah Eifermann at SFE Loans to help them navigate the maze of potential funders.
“They had the skills, the plan, the data and they knew their community,” Sarah explains. “They just needed a bank willing to look beyond the tick-box lending model.”
Sarah tested the proposal with multiple lenders, but it wasn’t until she escalated the opportunity to NAB via her Business Development Manager that the project found real traction, with NAB business banker Lauren Williams stepping in to progress the deal.
From there, NAB worked closely with all parties to structure a tailored finance solution - one that would ultimately bring Maclean Radiology to life.
NAB believed in the vision
With NAB’s Lauren Williams on board the project gained renewed momentum.
Maclean Radiology owners Haley Hodgson (right) and Lindsay McLennan (centre) with Broker Sarah Eifermann (Left)
Working closely with Sarah and the founders, Lauren helped structure a tailored finance solution to meet the group’s need, engaging NAB’s specialist and credit teams early to navigate the non‑traditional borrower profile and complex documentation. Consistent communication and the use of health-sector insights were critical to the process.
Together, NAB structured a finance solution that covered more than $7 million in development, including an MRI, CT, X-ray, ultrasound, and a full medical fit-out.
“It was a highly collaborative process from the outset,” Lauren says. “Sarah’s detailed proposal, strong market data and the clients’ clear focus on improving local healthcare gave us confidence to support the project.”
In just two weeks after the application was submitted, NAB gave the green light.
A game-changer for rural health
When it opens in coming months, Maclean Radiology will offer bulk-billed diagnostic services to more than 400,000 people across northern NSW.
For Haley and Lindsay, the journey has become about more than building a business. It’s become about challenging a broken model, proving that nurse-led and allied-health-led services can thrive, and keeping care local and accessible.
As Sarah puts it: “This is what happens when the right broker, banker and customers come together. You don’t just build a business. You change lives.”