The disgraced former CEO of Joondalup Health Campus has faced court and is now awaiting sentencing on the 6 November, the final provider for the Bunbury UCC has been announced and a new, online version of the Multicultural Heatlh Services Directory was launched.
Kempton Cowan prepares for sentencing
The disgraced former CEO of Joondalup Health Campus has faced court and is now awaiting sentencing on the 6 November, after more details were revealed in relation to charges he first plead guilty to back in May.
The District Court was told that in addition to accessing and soliciting child abuse material online, Cowan had requested and offered payment for sexual stories from adult women about their experiences as girls aged 13 to 15 – stories which the prosecution said were still considered abusive material as they documented the acts from a child’ perspective.
Cowan, 57, pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including causing child abuse material to be transmitted, soliciting child abuse material, and possessing child abuse material, including videos and images depicting girls aged eight to 14 years old involved in sexual activity.
Greater Bunbury UCC provider announced
The Health Hub at Eaton Fair has been finalised as the Greater Bunbury Medicare UCC, following an Expression of Interest process, and is expected to start seeing patients in November 2023.
Approximately 40 per cent of presentations to the Bunbury Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care and The Greater Bunbury Medicare UCC will be open for extended hours, 7 days a week, and offer walk-in care that is fully bulk billed.
Three clinics that are already operational in Perth, Rockingham, and Clarkson, with a fourth clinic at Beeliar due open in November joined by the final two WA Medicare UCCs in Midland and Broome before the end of the year.
This Medicare UCC delivers on the Australian Government’s commitment to make it easier for people in WA to get the urgent treatment they need – from highly qualified doctors and nurses,” Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mr Mark Butler said.
“The Greater Bunbury Region Medicare UCC are going to make a big difference to patients across southern WA.”
“I know many families who have had to wait long hours at the Bunbury Hospital emergency department for non-life-threatening issues,” added WA Senator Louis Pratt.
“The Greater Bunbury Region Medicare UCC is much more convenient for our communities. It will mean local residents who need urgent but not acute care, can get it quickly even if it’s outside standard hours –and all they’ll need is their Medicare card to have it bulk billed.”
Multicultural Health Services Directory now online
In other state health news, the Multicultural Health Services Directory was recently updated, and for the first time is available as an online inventory on the WA Health website.
The Directory’s content has been expanded to include all campaigns, programs and services that directly address and/or are inclusive of the health and wellbeing needs of Western Australians of culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds. Links to multicultural resources are also provided where relevant.
Noting the low number of ongoing CaLD-specific services in regional WA, the Directory also contains information on regional based CaLD community associations that can support people of CaLD background or provide information on culturally appropriate and accessible regional-based programs and services.
Health practitioners and service providers are encouraged to add the Directory to their pool of resources for supporting patients and carers of CaLD background, and if GPs have any questions or would like to provide feedback on the Directory, please contact the Cultural Diversity Unit at: culturaldiversity.royalst@health.wa.gov.au