Hervey Bay’s first mental health inpatient unit will provide more timely access for consumers while helping to divert health presentations away from the emergency department.
Opening early 2024 as part of stage one of a nearly $40 million project, the new 22-bed facility will have a profound impact on mental healthcare services on the Fraser Coast.
Program Manager at Wide Bay Mental Health and Specialised Services, Cindy Mays, said the acute facility was purpose-built to provide assessment and treatment for people with a mental illness over the age of 18 that require inpatient care.
“With the growing population, and we also have an ageing population here on the Fraser Coast, we wanted to build the facility to provide services for people closer to home,” Cindy said.
“Patients can be admitted from the community, by referral from their GP, through the emergency departments, through their case managers, or they can simply just walk in by themselves or with their family.”
Staffing of the facility is multi-disciplinary, including a social worker, psychologist, medical and nursing, as well as an in-house cook and exercise physiologist.
“With the multidisciplinary team, a patient is admitted, the team wraps around them and provides recovery trauma-informed best practice for their admission.”
Executive Director Wide Bay Mental Health and Specialised Services, Robyn Bradley, said it was important to not only address the mental health of people at the unit, but also their physical health.
“There's a gymnasium where people can exercise and learn about good nutrition, because often when we provide medications for people experiencing mental illness or mental health distress, some of those medications can impact on their physical health as well,” Robyn said.
“So it's really important that we not only treat the mental health aspects of their presentation, but also look at encouraging good physical health as well.”
The design of the new unit was also a collaborative effort with input from consumers, carers, families and lived-experience workers from the beginning through to the final stages.
“They've had input into things like the layout of the rooms, lighting, gardens, paintwork, artwork; it's been a really great process to be involved in,” Cindy said.
Robyn said the contemporary unit not only provides a light, spacious feel, but also one of safety.
“Often when people come here, they're experiencing a high level of distress; but by providing open spaces and really light and airy spaces, it really is a much better environment for people to recover."
Funding for the unit forms part of the $1.64 billion Better Care Together Plan, enhancing mental healthcare services in the region and promoting recovery-focused care.
“Mental health is really important in that we're seeing increasingly mental health distress and mental health presentations within our communities. And it's been a really challenging time for people I think within our communities,” Robyn said.
“We are a growing population here in Hervey Bay, and we haven't had an inpatient unit facility here… so this is a great opportunity for providing these services in the right place at the right time.”