More than $18 million to build a new Aboriginal Health Medical Service Hub in Bunbury has been revealed in the 2023-24 State Budget.
The State Government’s contribution matches an investment of $18.3 million made by the Commonwealth to support construction of the hub, which will provide a new home for the Noongar community-controlled Southwest Aboriginal Medical Services (SWAMS).
Services will be run by SWAMS and delivered on site and via outreach to the broader Southern and lower Wheatbelt areas, with the aim to provide culturally appropriate, comprehensive healthcare for Aboriginal people and communities in the region.
Co-located facilities will include a primary health clinic, community health and wellbeing centre, maternal and child health, aged care and disability services, corporate services, and medical research.
SWAMS CEO, Ms Lesley Nelson, welcomed the announcement, noting that the organisation already supports almost 4,500 patients across the Southwest, of which 81% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, with demand forecast to grow.
“The Health Hub will have an enormous positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people in the Southwest,” Ms Nelson said.
WA Health Minister Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson, who made the joint announcement with Premier Mark McGowan on 12 May 2023, the day after the State Budget was handed down, highlighted that the hub’s activities would be backed up by a further $5.8 million to fund 10 additional Aboriginal mental health workers.
“Our investment will help the service to deliver on its mission to provide high-quality, culturally appropriate and holistic healthcare which builds strong and healthy Aboriginal communities,” Minister Sanderson said.
“This includes providing a culturally safe environment, reducing pressure on mainstream healthcare and creating employment opportunities in the region.”
“We are committed to delivering health services near to where Western Australians live, and this year’s Budget delivers for people in regional WA,” Premier McGowan noted.
Other investments for regional WA in the State budget include:
- $8.2 million of funding for staff accommodation in regional and remote areas
- $7.1 million for a Bunbury Infant, Child, and Adolescent Mental Health Service Hub pilot
- $6.3 million for the delivery of specialist cancer services across country WA
- $6.7 million to support the continuation of key renal services, which includes early detection, prevention, and management strategies for chronic kidney disease in rural and remote locations
- $24.4 million for emergency telehealth for mental health patients; and
- $3.1 million to support the palliative care workforce and enhance end-of-life choices for terminally ill patients in the regions.
The McGowan Government also announced that they will continue the redevelopment of health campuses in regional WA, including the $277.9 million redevelopment of Bunbury Hospital, the $122.7 million redevelopment of the Geraldton Health Campus, as well as $2.1 million for the expansion of the Albany Health Campus carpark.
Additionally, a $9.6 million investment in Ronald McDonald House – which provides free accommodation to regional families of children with complex medical needs requiring extended medical care in Perth – will more than double its capacity.
In other regional healthcare news for WA, the new $9.86 million Dongara Health Centre (located 64kms south of Geraldton) has reached practical completion.
The facility has been significantly upgraded to include a new ambulatory care unit as well as new consult rooms with telehealth videoconferencing capability, a dedicated child health room, staff amenities and parking areas.
A dedicated triage reception and new assessment bay, an upgraded sub-waiting, treatment, consult and short stay spaces, a staff station, and an ambulance bay have been added to the ED, while Dongara’s residential aged care unit, Blake House, now has 12 beds and a new palliative care suite.
The new operating theatre at Collie Health Service also achieved practical completion with the first patients welcomed on 16 March 2023, part of a $14.7 million investment in the town’s healthcare system.