MENTAL health and ageing minister Ingrid Stitt chose Ballarat to make some health and aged care announcements regarding the new state budget this week.<\/p>\n
Visiting Talbot Place aged care unit in Dana Street, Stitt toured the site, and met and mingled with staff including Grampians Health CEO Dale Fraser.<\/p>\n
“We know that Victorian families are doing it tough and we are investing $3.9 billion in this year’s budget alone in health,” Stitt said.<\/p>\n
The minister said the budget includes $40 million to extend the state’s Residential in Reach service which aims to ensure elderly patients do not unnecessarily spend extended time receiving care in hospital emergency departments and instead can get the care they need in a dedicated age care centre.<\/p>\n
Fraser said 550 age care residents throughout the Grampians region are currently receiving the Residential in Reach program in aged care settings after the program began last July.<\/p>\n
“These are people that would otherwise go into an emergency department,” Fraser said.<\/p>\n
“We’d love to grow that number to whatever the true need is.<\/p>\n
“We’re putting more and more nurse practitioners into the model.”<\/p>\n
Besides the potential to free up emergency department beds for priority cases and save health care dollars, Fraser said the residential in-reach program is also about ensuring “dignity of care”.<\/p>\n
Key features of the budget include $75 million for the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund to renew and upgrade infrastructure across rural and regional health services with redevelopment of the Ballarat Base Hospital a focus for Grampians Health.<\/p>\n
Among the announcements for mental health is $9.7 million to continue community-based outreach and free services for young people and families.<\/p>\n
This includes the state’s Youth Outreach and Recovery service for young people aged 16-25 with complex mental health challenges, and parenting programs for families in regional Victoria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MENTAL health and ageing minister Ingrid Stitt chose Ballarat to make some health and aged care announcements regarding the new state budget this week. Visiting Talbot Place aged care unit in Dana Street, Stitt toured the site, and met and mingled with staff including Grampians Health CEO Dale Fraser. “We know that Victorian families are […]<\/p>\n