Bass Coast Health secures security upgrade funding
BASS Coast Health will receive $58,215 to upgrade security infrastructure at the old Phillip Island Health Hub building, as part of a $20 million state government investment in mental health and alcohol and other drugs services across Victoria.
The funding, announced on Tuesday April 7, comes through the latest round of the Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Capital Renewal Fund, with 32 services across the state sharing in the funding pool.
The Bass Coast allocation will go towards integrating the security systems of the old Phillip Island Health Hub building with the new Phillip Island Community Hospital, creating a single connected system across the Cowes site.
Works include the installation of new security and duress systems with full backup and connectivity, along with the provision of Spectra telephones to support AOD service workers.
Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale welcomed the funding, saying it would help ensure local residents could access specialist care close to home.
“Victorians living with mental health or AOD issues deserve care and support and we know how important it is for our community to be able to access this specialist care close to where they live,” Ms Crugnale said.
“We are committed to improving mental health and AOD services in the Bass Coast, wider region and statewide so they are more accessible and more supportive for staff, consumers and their families, carers and supporters.”
The Phillip Island Community Hospital opened its first stage in June last year when Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas relocated the Urgent Care Centre from the old Health Hub to the new multi-storey facility at 50-56 Church Street, Cowes.
The new hospital, which opened more services to the public over the summer holiday period, now provides urgent care, radiology, CT scans, ultrasound and general x-ray, with chemotherapy, dialysis and day surgery services rolling out progressively.
Bass Coast Health became part of the new Bayside Health network on January 1 this year, joining four other health services to deliver care to more than 1.2 million Victorians.
Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt said the funding round would lift the standard of care across the state.
“From Gippsland to Warrnambool, we are upgrading services so that no matter where you live, you can get the best care in the very best facilities,” Ms Stitt said.
Other projects to receive funding in this round include Alfred Health for courtyard refurbishments at its Mental Health Aged Inpatient Unit, Latrobe Regional Health for security upgrades, Windana Drug and Alcohol Recovery for CCTV and swipe card access at a residential AOD site, and Wellways for upgrades to the Kuna Bim Youth Residential Rehabilitation Service in Warrnambool.
The Mental Health and AOD Capital Renewal Fund was established in response to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, which handed down its final report in 2021.
Since 2018, the fund has delivered $70 million in critical upgrades and refurbishments to mental health and AOD services across the state.
The program aims to create safer, more accessible and more supportive environments for staff, consumers, families and carers.
A full list of recipients is available at vhba.vic.gov.au/news.
