Grants improve care for elderly patients
Two state government grants to the West Gippsland Healthcare Group are set to improve care services for aged care patients and residents.
WGHG will receive $250,000 to allow an area of Cooinda Lodge to be converted for medical sub-acute care beds and a further $90,000 for equipment at Andrew’s House aged care facility in Trafalgar.
The grants were announced by Member for Eastern Victoria Region Harriet Shing last week.
Ms Shing said Gippsland health services would share in $3.9 million as part of the state government’s new regional health infrastructure fund.
WGHG chief executive officer Dan Weeks said the funding for both projects was welcome news and would assist to improve health services for aged care patients and residents.
The $250,000 allocation will be used for to convert empty beds in Cooinda Lodge into five beds for geriatric evaluation management patients.
Mr Weeks said it would enable the healthcare group to make use of some capacity within Cooinda to bring GEM patients back on site from Neerim District Soldiers Memorial Hospital.
He said the arrangement with NDSMH had worked well but some patients had more complex medical needs.
He said by converting an area of Cooinda, this would free up beds in the medical ward.
Three transitional care beds in Cooinda also will be incorporated in the new area and expanded with one extra bed, creating a nine bed sub-acute service co-located within Cooinda.
Mr Weeks said it also meant more nurses, allied health and medical staff could be based in Cooinda for the service.
“It ticks many boxes and it helps us to manage resources better on our current site,” he said.
At Andrew’s House, the $90,000 will be used to install ceiling tracks and purchase medical equipment for high care patients.
Mr Weeks said the overhead ceiling tracks assisted staff to move residents from beds to wheelchairs or lifting patients.
He said it was a terrific project that would assist both staff and residents.
Ms Shing said the $200 million fund would rebuild rural and regional hospitals to ensure all Victorians can access the high quality care and facilities they need, no matter where they live.
“This investment will mean better and safer care for patients and modern facilities for staff by either expanding capacity, improving efficiency, reducing waiting times for treatment, treating more patients, more quickly, and closer to home, improving access, care or comfort, improving patient outcomes, meeting increasing demand, delivering the latest advances in medical technology, or improving reliability of engineering infrastructure.
“Our investment will secure the future of our local health service and make a real difference to the lives of patients who will get the safe, high quality care and treatment they need – particularly in the face of billions of dollars in cuts by the federal Coalition.
“Our dedicated doctors and nurses at these health services do a remarkable job. We are determined to support them in every way we can and to keep locals healthy by giving them the modern facilities they truly deserve,” she said.