By Renee Wood
Healesville community groups are throwing their support behind Services for Healesville Hospital Action Group (SHHAG), urging the state health minister to establish an Urgent Care Centre locally.
The groups are advocating to the minister’s office to add weight to the community’s needs and desires for a facility.
The Healesville Rotary Club Board said, “Healesville is a crucial location for delivery of urgent care services.”
The Lions Club wrote in its letter to the minister’s office that it believes this issue needs to be addressed and rectified.
“We wish to formally express our belief that an Urgent Care facility is an essential service for Healesville and surrounding communities, and urge that such a facility, based at Healesville Hospital, be authorised and implemented,” Gary Butler
Club Secretary, Healesville Lions Club wrote.
Healesville Action Group (HAG) and Healesville U3A also advocate for the establishment.
“Maroondah is too far to seek urgent treatment and the emergency facility there is overloaded with long delays for treatment, it makes so much sense to have this facility here, to improve the outcomes for this community,” HAG said.
It will be an item for discussion at the next Healesville U3A meeting as the committee believes it is an important issue for the community and they would like to support the needs of retirees and seniors in the community.
Another letter of support will be sent from Mayor Jim Child after Councillor Fiona McAllister requested this, raising the item through the chair at the Tuesday 11 October Council Meeting.
Cr McAllister highlighted the needs for the 30,000 plus population locally and surrounding and the influx of six million visitors to the valleys.
“The fact that it takes nearly an hour to travel to the nearest urgent care or emergency services – you can start to see the logic for urgent care,” Cr McAllister said.
SHHAG Chairperson Jane Judd said the committee welcomes and thanks the community for its support over the ten year campaign for better services which first started in December 2012.
“This has been community speaking up for 10 years and I’m grateful to everyone who’s followed the issues and helped support us and workers services to the hospital. It’s just been a sensation,” Ms Judd said.
The issue has been gaining traction after the State Government announced 25 Urgent Care Service Centres would be delivered across the state.
Ten locations are yet to be determined, with SHHAG recently meeting with the minister’s office to advocate for Healesville to be named in the next roll out.
Ms Judd said the meeting was successful and they were able to deliver the seven key reasons behind the need which included health disadvantages, Healesville being a rural environment, high population demographics and the town having high health needs.
Ms Judd is also encouraged that following this meeting, a member of the Department of Health made contact and is interested in speaking with Ms Judd to hear of the community’s concerns and needs for services in the area.
