News

Sod turned on new Aboriginal health service

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:54:00

Work is starting this week on a new four million dollar Aboriginal Health Centre in Mildura.

The new complex in Orange Avenue will be the first purpose-built health service for the Mildura Aboriginal Corporation in its 25-year history.

The chief executive Rudolph Kirby said the new building would double the size of the existing health centre, relieve pressure on the growing staff and client base, and allow for an expansion in services.

“The services to Aboriginal communities from Mildura to Kerang are currently provided out of the health centre beside our offices, but we have just outgrown the premises,” Mr Kirby said.

“It’s certainly less than ideal, and it’s become more and more cramped with the growth in staff and programs over the past five years – the current situation is no longer as efficient as it should be,” he said.

“There’s a severe lack of secure counselling and consultation rooms for the 5000 clients in our catchment,  and that tends to compromise the outcomes our staff can achieve.

“We also need more space for visiting allied health professionals and specialists, and although we’ve brought in relocatable buildings, it’s certainly only a stop-gap solution.”

Rising demand for health centre services and the expansion in programs have forced the corporation to rent extra space in another nearby building, resulting in the separation of management from the operational aspects of the organisation.  The completion of the new building will allow all staff to be located back onto one site. 

SJ Weir is the successful tenderer for the project, and will be using local contractors during the construction, due to be finished in July.  The company will also be employing several indigenous workers on the project.

Mr Kirby said a key factor in the proposal for the new complex was the need for adequate counselling rooms for mental health and drug and alcohol clients.

“These rooms have specific security requirements, and need to be located appropriately – that is they need to be away from child health or similar services,” he said.

“Many of our clients present with some sort of acute medical issue, such as a minor injury, but they also bring with them a range of issues, such as mental health, drug and alcohol, domestic violence, housing, transport and chronic disease.

“We’ve developed an effective internal referral system to manage this, but it will be much more effective in terms of outcomes if the services are delivered in an environment that’s not so crowded, is more professional and is culturally-appropriate.”

The Mildura Aboriginal Corporation delivers more than 50 programs supporting Aboriginal people and their families, and employs more than 120 staff, a large percentage of whom are Aboriginal people.  The staff includes Aboriginal health workers and nurses, a midwife and maternal health workers as well as professionals in mental health, drug and alcohol support, counsellors and family services staff.  The new health centre will allow the expansion of services to continue, including delivering dental services, in partnership with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Mr Kirby said it was vital that the quality of health care and prevention services to indigenous people in the region continued to improve.

“The life span of an indigenous person is still an average 10 years less than a non-indigenous person, and problems like kidney failure, diabetes, asthma and bronchitis are much more prevalent among Aboriginal people,” he said.

“The three major risk factors for indigenous health are still obesity, tobacco and alcohol and in our catchment alone, we estimate the healthcare costs resulting from those factors to be about three million dollars a year.

“The prevalence of these problems is still continuing to grow, so we obviously need to keep the focus on these core business areas in the interests of our community.

“Culturally-appropriate, targeted healthcare and prevention programs make the most difference in Aboriginal health outcomes, and that is why this project is important for the sustainability of this health service.” Mr Kirby said.