Ballarat Health Services

Full description

Ballarat Health Services (BHS) was formed in December 1996 when the Ballarat Base Hospital (VA 1263) and The Queen Elizabeth Centre, Ballarat (VA 1284) merged, along with the Queen Elizabeth Centre subsidiary Ballarat and District Aged Persons’ Homes Association. When established, BHS was appointed as an approved mental health service known as Grampians Psychiatric Services (GPS) under the Mental Health Act 1986.

Integration of psychiatric health care into mainstream health services was a major focus of BHS throughout the 1990s. GPS was established to provide psychiatric services to the Grampians Region, including areas outside of BHS’s usual catchment area. The service built on the teleconferencing program established in 1995 to expand its psychiatric services to remote communities in the Grampians area, even reaching international patients by the late 1990s. The Steele Haughton Unit was opened in 1996, which provided acute and extended Geriatric Psychiatry care at the Queen Elizabeth Centre, and the Community and Inpatient Psychiatric unit for adult, child and adolescent psychiatric services was officially opened in July 1997. A Clinical Academic Unit was created in partnership with the University of Melbourne to establish research and education programs in 1999. This included the development of a Rural Psychiatry module for the Graduate Diploma of Community Mental Health.

Other new additions to BHS in 1997 include the Gandarra palliative care unit, Argyle Lodge at the Queen Elizabeth Village, which provided dementia-specific care in lieu of the closed Argyle nursing home, and an extension of the WB Messer Hostel. A Breastfeeding Support Unit was established at the hospital in 1998, a program developed by World Health Organization and UNICEF and one of the first established in Australia. Also in 1998, the Centre Against Sexual Assault was established as a 24-hour emergency service, significantly expanding on services established by its predecessor Crisis Centre. Talbot Place aged care home was officially opened in March of that year, and the Geoffrey Cutter Centre began taking aged care residents.

The Education Resource Centre containing a 120-seat lecture theatre was opened in October 1999 followed by the Peter Heinz Rehabilitation Centre, completed December 1999, which provided allied health services including hydrotherapy pool, gymnasium, as several consulting and treatment rooms. Hailey House was moved to a purpose-built aged care hostel in Ballarat North in 2000.

In 1999 BHS began implementing central information management systems beginning with patient administration. IT projects continued with the implementation of systems for staff management and rostering, clinical information, and theatre management.

BHS began working more closely with the neighbouring private hospital St. John of God throughout the 1990s. A connecting walkway over the road separating the two hospitals was completed in 2002, allowing the two hospitals to provide shared services and work more closely on collaborative projects. One such project was establishing the Ballarat-Austin Radiation Oncology Centre (BAROC), which was developed in partnership with the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre of the Austin Hospital (VA 1243) and officially opened in September 2002.

Other major projects completed during 2000s include the Tattersall’s Emergency Centre and a new Dialysis Unit. In May 2008 BHS assumed responsibility for the Ballarat public dental health clinic from Dental Health Services Victoria. To improve access to dental services, BHS entered into a partnership with La Trobe University to establish the clinic as a teaching clinic for dental health students. Public dental services were extended in April 2009 when BHS opened a new dental health clinic at Yuille Park Community College. Also in April 2009, BHS launched a breast screening unit for early detection of breast cancer.

In 2006 BHS began an Aboriginal Health Taskforce to work with the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Collective to improve access to health programs for First Nations peoples as well as to improve and cultural awareness and sensitivity of clinical and support staff working at BHS. Outcomes from this Taskforce included in the Aboriginal Midwife program and appointment of Aboriginal Mental Health Liaison Officers.

In 2010 Grampians Psychiatric Services was revoked as a mental health service and the Ballarat Health Service Mental Health Service was appointed under the Mental Health Act 1986. This appointment was applied to any services provided by BHS excluding residential care services defined by the Aged Care Act 1997 (Commonwealth). The service continued to deliver mental health services to the Greater Grampians region.

Other major developments in the 2010s include the opening of the Ballarat Clinical School for students from the University of Melbourne and Deakin University in June 2010; Adult Acute Unit in August 2010; the Emergency Department Short Stay Unit in February 2011; Cardiovascular Suite in October 2011; Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre in July 2013; MRI facility in June 2014; new dental clinic at Phoenix College, Sebastopol, in April 2015; helipad in June 2015; Mother and Family Mental Health Clinic in November 2015; Midlands Child, Youth and Family Mental Health clinic in July 2016; the Gardiner-Pittard wing in February 2017; and Grampians Prevention and Recovery Centre in July 2020.

BHS was key to facilitating the COVID-19 response in the Grampians Region with the establishment of the Community Vaccination Hub in March 2021, establishing the Grampians Public Health Unit, creating and managing rapid response testing teams, and supporting outbreak management and vaccination education throughout the Grampians area.

In 2021 Ballarat Health Services merged with Stawell Regional Health (VA 1736), Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital (VA 1685) and Wimmera Health Care Group (VA 5501) to form Grampians Health (VA 5499). The Ballarat Base Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Centre continued to operate under the name Grampians Health Ballarat.