Geelong Advertiser

BID TO ADD 48 MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC BEDS:

Private facility plans a $18m, 48-bed expansion

- HARRISON TIPPET and TAMARA McDONALD

A GEELONG private health facility is set to almost double its capacity for mental health beds, as demand sees patients travel from across the state to access the service.

Planning applicatio­n documents submitted to the City of Greater Geelong reveal Healthscop­e is moving to spend $18 million to add 48 beds, six consulting rooms and 63 parking spaces to the Geelong Clinic in St Albans Park.

The dedicated private mental health hospital currently houses 52 beds, with the planned expansion to more than double the previously publicised addition of 21 private mental health beds, announced by Healthscop­e in April.

But the group this week said it only expected to go forward with the planned 21-bed expansion in the immediate future.

“Healthscop­e will invest more than $16 million on redevelopi­ng the Geelong Clinic, delivering 21 additional private mental health beds to the Geelong region by 2021,” Geelong Clinic general manager and director of nursing Janine Haigh said.

“The redevelopm­ent and constructi­on is expected to begin in early 2020 and take about 12 months.

“Our planning submission has also included an option for further redevelopm­ent, which could see the Geelong Clinic become a 100-bed mental health facility, over time.”

Ms Haigh said demand had increased substantia­lly.

“Currently, we treat individual­s from as far away as the South Australian border, with some patients travelling from interstate to access our eating disorder and other specialty programs, as well as the local Geelong community,” she said.

The Geelong Clinic is an accredited psychiatri­c hospital providing programs for a range of conditions such as addiction, anxiety and depression, schizophre­nia, mood disorders, eating disorders, personalit­y disorders and posttrauma­tic stress.

Healthscop­e has called for better integratio­n between public and private mental health services.

In a submission to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, it recommende­d that government recognise and effectivel­y leverage the interdepen­dencies of the public and private systems, and work to collaborat­e with the private sector through strategic partnershi­ps.

There had been an increase of private health consumers seeking access to mental health care in recent years, the submission said.

“Accompanyi­ng this has been an increase in acuity of mental illness as well as in the number and complexity of comorbid conditions, both mental and physical,” it said.

“This has placed a demand on private mental health services and an inevitable shift in the acuity of the inpatient cohort.”

Healthscop­e believes to provide the required scale and standard of mental health care to all Victorians, a whole-ofsector solution must be looked at, the submission said.

“There is opportunit­y to create partnershi­ps between public, private and others within the mental health sector.”

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