Foundation drives hospital's digital push with $61,000
Foundation's $61,000 investment in the Lookout Way system will underpin South Gippsland Hospital's Support at Home and community care services as the sector adjusts to national aged care reforms.
Digital community care services at South Gippsland Hospital are getting a $61,000 boost from the South Gippsland Community Health Foundation.
The Foundation will fully fund the Lookout Way Client Data Management System, the platform that underpins the hospital's Support at Home and community care services.
The system supports staff with care delivery, improves communication and enables efficiencies in rostering, billing and reporting.
Foundation president Graeme Baxter said the digital program would help local people stay safe at home.
"We are proud to support SGH in helping people stay safe at home. This digital program is not just about working more efficiently, it is about providing better care," Mr Baxter said.
"We are very grateful to the people of Corner Inlet, whose donations make projects like this possible."
Hospital director of community care Samantha Park welcomed the Foundation's investment.
"This investment highlights the power of community-backed partnerships in sustaining and strengthening rural health services, ensuring local people can continue to access modern, reliable care now and into the future," Ms Park said.
The Foundation has invested in hospital projects since its formation in 2012, with previous funding covering surgical equipment, Community Health Centre upgrades, transport services and medical records solutions.
Over the past decade the Foundation has received more than $1 million in bequests from the Corner Inlet community and distributed more than $500,000 to local health services.
The most significant Foundation contribution to date was the transfer of full use of the Banksia Centre to South Gippsland Hospital, which the Foundation supported with a $274,000 grant in 2022 to purchase the lease from Prom Country Aged Care.
The hospital is responding to national aged care reforms, including the Support at Home program rolling out across the sector, and the Lookout Way system is regarded as essential to that work.
Hospital chief executive Paul Greenhalgh said the Foundation's decision was greatly appreciated by the SGH board and executive.
South Gippsland Hospital, based in Foster, was named Victoria's best small health service at the Premier's 2023 Public Healthcare Awards and runs a community health centre alongside its acute, aged and home care services.
The Foundation continues to accept tax-deductible donations and bequests in support of further hospital upgrades.
