Developer unveils new age Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub innovation
LONDON: A developer has now finally unveiled a new age Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub innovation.
A new $18m Barwon Health mental health hub designed to bring services under one roof was officially opened on Wednesday.
The Central Geelong Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub, on Moorabool St, is expected to take pressure off nearby Geelong hospital.
The four-storey building aims to deliver wraparound treatment, care and support for locals, including mental health and alcohol and other drug treatment services.
Victorian Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said the hub would be a “game changer.”
“You don’t need a referral from a GP, it’s open seven days a week, and we know there is a real need for it in the Geelong and Greater Geelong area,” Ms Stitt said.
“So you might be in need of something a little bit more than just a GP visit, but you might not be sick enough to need an acute mental health service, this is a place you can come for that wraparound support and the mental health and well being professionals are here to assist you.”
Barwon Health’s clinical director of mental health, drugs and alcohol services Steve Moylan said the new hub was a positive step in changing how mental health services are viewed by the community.
“To me it communicates that mental health is important and accessible,” Professor Moylan said.
“Our vision is to have a ‘no wrong door’ for people accessing our services.
“We are already seeing the positive impact on clients of the co-location of services.”
One of the services offered within the hub is the Greater Geelong and Queenscliffe Mental Health and Wellbeing Local, which recently moved to the new site from its initial temporary location in North Geelong.
Geelong was selected as the location for one of the government’s 15 “local” services as a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s mental health system tabled in 2021.
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Ms Stitt said the commission “told us Victorians find navigating the mental health system too hard.”
Earlier in the day, main works at the Geelong hospital’s new dedicated children’s emergency department were opened.
The $20m state-of-the-art facility aims to give families across the Barwon region improved access to world-class emergency care, close to home.
