New Eight Mile Plains Community Health Centre officially opened

A new “one stop shop” for health care services has opened its doors to patients on Brisbane’s southside.

The new $2.37 million Eight Mile Plains Community Health Centre was officially opened today by Health Minister Stephen Robertson.

“Last month this new community health centre started providing patients with cardiac rehabilitation, wound care and diabetic podiatry services,” Mr Robertson said.

“We’ll be rolling out more services in the coming months to ensure southside residents have access to a range of key health care services right on their doorstep.

“In doing so, the Bligh Government is honouring its commitment to bring more health care services closer to where people live.”

Mr Robertson said the new centre would house a number of specialised clinical service teams, including a community nutrition unit, a palliative care team and an aged care assessment team.

“By investing in these sorts of services, we’re aiming to reduce pressure on our public hospitals and cut the number of emergency department admissions,” he said.

“Previously, patients may have needed to travel to other locations to access more than one service.

“The services provided here at Eight Mile Plains are specifically focused on keeping people out of the hospital environment and allowing them to be cared for in their local communities.”

Mr Robertson said the Eight Mile Plains Community Health Centre was part of the QEII Hospital Elective Surgery Project.

“One of the Bligh Government’s 2006 election promises was to develop a dedicated elective surgery centre at QEII Hospital,” he said.

“To facilitate this new 30 bed surgical ward, we had to relocate Mount Gravatt Community Health Services from the hospital to this site here at Eight Mile Plains.

“This new centre ensures the continued delivery of key health services to the local community.”

Mr Robertson said 157 individual client appointments and 163 attendances at cardiac rehabilitation groups were recorded in the centre’s first month of operation.

“There were also about 9000 home care hours of service provided, and about 550 episodes of aged care provided off-site by services based at Eight Mile Plains,” he said.

“Having this health hub in the heart of the local community will mean fewer time-consuming trips to the bigger hospitals and allow more people to access care closer to home.”

Media: Martin Philip 3225 2680 or 0407 675 008