Cohealth's closure of three Melbourne GP clinics to affect 12,500 patients

Community health organisation cohealth will stop offering GP services at three of its clinics at the end of the year, citing rising costs and funding issues.

The closure is expected to leave about 12,500 Victorians without a doctor at its Collingwood, Fitzroy and Kensington clinics.

Around 20 doctors will be made redundant.

Cohealth chief executive Nicole Bartholomeusz said several compounding issues had made it "impossible to sustain services".

"This decision reflects multiple, complex pressures including decades of underinvestment, aging infrastructure, and a funding model that doesn't match the reality of the need or the type of care that is required," Ms Bartholomeusz said.

" We are funded for standard care, but we're servicing extraordinary need. "

Ms Bartholomeusz said coheal