CEO Primary Matters – 17 November 2021

New Head to Health Centre for Geelong

I am pleased to welcome increased mental health support to our Geelong community, with the establishment of Victoria’s first Commonwealth-funded adult mental health centre. Operating under the name of Head to Health, the centre will be located in Geelong’s northern suburbs and provide a central point for adults and their families to access mental health information, support and services.

Western Victoria PHN (WVPHN) has appointed mental health and wellbeing support provider, Neami National, to deliver the new Head to Health service in Geelong and I am certain that the high-quality nature of Neami’s operations will become a model for other mental health supports across our state.

For further information about the new Head to Health centre, view our media release here.

Welcoming the new headspace satellite service in Corio

Keeping the spotlight on mental health support, I was delighted to receive the announcement of dedicated Commonwealth funding to deliver a new headspace satellite service in Corio. It will be operational early next year.

Reducing barriers to accessing care is key to supporting the health and wellbeing of our young people.

The Corio satellite will offer a suite of mental health supports and services alongside other important physical health and social supports for youth in Geelong’s north.

SPIDAH Survey reminder

Finally, in the lead up to International Day of People with Disability early next month, I would like to again shine a light on our Supporting People with Intellectual Disability to Access Health (SPIDAH) Project. The SPIDAH Project involves working with health providers and community members on how to improve access to primary health care for people with an intellectual disability.

WVPHN is currently seeking feedback from health professionals, people with lived experience and their carers and families via a series of surveys. We want to understand what is working well, what is challenging or difficult and what are the gaps.  We are also keen for ideas on how to make our primary health system more equitable for people with an intellectual disability. I encourage health professionals to complete our survey and share your views and refer patients to do the same.

Read more about our SPIDAH Project and access the surveys here.

Rowena Clift

Chief Executive Officer

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