The Byford Health Hub is inching closer to concrete reality.
The East Metropolitan Health Service is now calling for registrations of health and social care service providers interested in joining the hub.
The Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale identified an urgent need to establish a centralised space for health in the shire, with the area suffering from a dearth of local health services.
In 2021 the EMHS partnered with SJ Shire to design and deliver a proposed new health hub in Byford.
Funding of $5.9 million was invested in the 2022-23 state budget to begin site development, forward works and finalise the business case.
Then in May this year, a further $36.3 million was committed from the 2023/24 state budget to get the project out of the ground, honouring a 2021 election promise.
“Health hubs are about having multiple health services located in one place,” the EMHS said.
“In designing the Byford Health Hub, we will need to determine the right mix of social and health services based on the needs of the community – and consider how they will work based on a range of factors, including the money available to run them, the organisations that might deliver them and the model of integrated care.”
The shire and state government conducted analysis of Byford and District’s health and social needs and determined that there was a special need for mental health, physiotherapy, preventative health, and youth health services.
The data showed an above average use of primary health services – like GPs – in the area and a below state average service provision. Specialist care was especially low and most people had to travel out of the area to seek treatment.
And there was a demand for urgent care, with more and more people using the Armadale Hospital.
Service providers wishing to register, or to find out more, can do so at the EMHS website.
Anyone with ideas about the space and what should go in it are encouraged to submit their thoughts by emailing the Byford Health Hub Program Management Office at byford.healthhubprogram@health.wa.gov.au
