Page 851 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 18 March 2015
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in the community sector, regularly identifying areas of need in relation to service delivery and where I could help establish organisations that would in some way meet those needs and provide those services. One such organisation is the West Belconnen Health Co-op, which started its life in Charnwood. This health co-op has been a very successful health provider in west Belconnen. As we all know, in a very short period of time it has grown rapidly and now operates in an additional four other locations in the ACT as well as providing services through another five locations at aged-care facilities. Those locations include Charnwood, Belconnen, Kippax, Evatt and Chisholm, with clinics also being conducted at Kangara Waters, Ginninderra Gardens, Villagio Sant’ Antonio, Kalparrin and BUPA Aranda aged-care facilities.
Due to its inclusive nature and its unique model where co-op members own the business, this organisation has grown rapidly to have over 28,000 members and is now operating as the National Health Co-op Ltd. This has obviously increased access to health services for all Canberrans by attracting additional general practitioners to the ACT and also by offering allied health services and co-location of complementary support services. This is another fantastic example of what can be achieved when the government works with community and with the business and community sectors.
The nurse-led walk-in clinics in Belconnen and Tuggeranong are other examples of services embedded in the community that have enhanced and increased access to health services in the ACT. These two free and non-appointment-based initiatives have helped bring health services closer to where people live and work, at accessible hours that suit users of those services. In the period between their opening in June and September 2014, there were more than 9,300 presentations in both centres, showing that Canberrans continue to embrace the new locations. I believe these figures will only grow with time.
Madam Assistant Speaker, as you know, on Monday this week I proudly joined the Minister for Health, Mr Simon Corbell, and my fellow Ginninderra colleague Dr Chris Bourke at the launching of the design plans for the proposed University of Canberra public hospital, which are now out for community comment. The UCPH is a very important health investment in the ACT, providing important access to subacute services, stimulating economic activity, creating further education opportunities in the form of research, as well as attracting more students and academics into our world-class education institutions such as the University of Canberra and the Bruce CIT campus. Importantly, it also frees up acute beds in the Canberra Hospital and at Calvary. We heard the minister talk yesterday about the way the university sector and the government have come together to plan a health facility which will meet the growing needs for subacute care as our population ages and a facility which is welcoming in its design.
Social inclusion also encompasses areas such as recreation, as Dr Bourke mentioned. This government has continued to invest in ensuring that Canberrans have access to adequate, well-equipped recreation facilities as well as sporting events and festivals. I will talk about two such organisations providing valuable opportunities to Canberrans. The first is Canberra United in the Westfield W-League—great champions of women’s football—ably led by Heather Reid AM, the CEO of Capital Football. This is a club I and I am sure many in the ACT are proud to support as they have proven
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