STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS
Wimmera Health Care Group (WHCG) and Ballarat Health Services (BHS) are exploring partnership options, including a possible voluntary amalgamation, to enhance the delivery of services and create better health outcomes for local people across the Wimmera region. Community consultation is underway.

Together, we are looking at ways to further enhance the partnerships between our regional health services to provide safe and accessible care closer to home.

Benefits of the project include: better health outcomes for people across the region; greater access to clinical health care locally; strengthened capacity and expansion of services; greater workforce opportunities, training and development; enhanced models of care and effective health services for the future.

An assessment is being undertaken in relation to workforce, financial, service delivery and governance impacts of any partnership. Each Board will then make a decision in relation to their individual health service. Any partnership options being explored would focus on enhancing service delivery. There would be no loss of services.

STATISTICS
• Horsham residents travel outside of the region for approx. 2,200 episodes of care each year (around 6 per day). This represents around one quarter of all public hospital admissions for Horsham residents.
• The proportion of Horsham residents’ hospital care that is provided outside the region has increased in recent years - 450 more episodes of care now occur outside the region than 5 years ago.
• For the wider Wimmera region, almost 4,000 episodes of care happen outside the region each year (more than 10 per day).
• The proportion of Wimmera region residents’ hospital care provided outside the region has also increased in recent years. Almost 600 more episodes of care occur outside the region than 5 years ago.
• If Wimmera residents could have the same proportion of their hospital care delivered within the region as happens in other nearby regions, 1,300 fewer patients would have to travel to get the healthcare they need (4 per day).
(Source: Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset 2018-19)

HAVE YOUR SAY
Please tell us what is important to you to enhance services and improve health outcomes for people in the Wimmera region. Community consultation is being undertaken until 15 February 2021.

Fill in a survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WHCGandBHSPartnership
The survey is open until 11 December 2020

Make a submission: Write to - Partnership Proposal, Wimmera Health Care Group - 83 Baillie Street, Horsham VIC 3400 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Attend an online (zoom) community consultation session:
• Thursday 28 January, 4pm-5pm
• Monday 1 February, 12.30pm-1.30pm
• Tuesday 2 February, 9.30am 10.30am
• Wednesday 3 February, 6.30 pm-7.30pm

Attend a community consultation session in person:
• Friday 5 February, 11.30am-1.00pm, at Horsham Golf Club
• Friday 5 February, 2.30pm-4.00pm, at Horsham Golf Club
• Wednesday 10 February, 3.30pm-5pm, at Ballarat Health Service, Lederman Hall

To RSVP to attend any of the consultation sessions and receive further information, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone (03) 5381 9293.

We will also have a number of pop-up stands in the community and are keen to visit local community organisations to speak about the project and hear views.

Find out more information via the websites

WHCG www.whcg.org.au or BHS www.bhs.org.au

We will keep communities informed through our website, social media, media, meetings/sessions and letters as we work through this process.

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