The future of healthcare in Australia has been revealed

The brand-new $96 million St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay is the first Australian hospital to completely computerise and integrate all its operations, equipment and services to offer a vastly improved level of patient care.

The hospital is viewed as the new benchmark for healthcare in Australia; digital healthcare systems like that at St Stephen’s integrate an array of state-of-the-art technologies, equipment and practices to deliver holistic, high-quality patient care in the most cost-effective manner possible.

To commemorate today’s inauguration, Mr Dutton unveiled a plaque in the presence of senior executives from the Uniting Church, its not-for-profit community and healthcare operations under UnitingCare Queensland, and Fraser Coast community leaders.

Executive Director of UnitingCare Health Richard Royle said St Stephen’s would transform healthcare in Australia.

“The latest eHealth technologies, the best practices, and our top class team of clinicians and staff combine to allow us to deliver the best outcomes and care for our patients,” Mr Royle said.

“Many Australian hospitals have trialled or implemented digitisation but St Stephen's is the first hospital to completely integrate and digitise all its activities.

“I recently hosted delegates from the country’s foremost institutions — including the Queensland, NSW and Commonwealth Departments of Health, Monash University, the CSIRO, and Australia’s largest public and private hospitals — eager to observe leading-edge technologies and practices in a fully operational setting.”

Underlining the advanced nature of St Stephen’s, Mr Royle was presented with a certificate confirming that the hospital was the first in Australia to have been accredited with Stage 6 certification from HIMSS, an international measure of a hospital’s digitisation and integration.

St Stephen’s Hospital is part of UnitingCare Health (UCH), a not-for-profit private healthcare provider as part of UnitingCare Queensland, the health and community services organisation for the Uniting Church in Queensland. UCH is the only not-for-profit provider of private hospital services on the Fraser Coast.

CEO of UnitingCare Queensland Anne Cross, recently named Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year, said St Stephen’s Hospital exemplified the not-for-profit’s strategy to improve social services by leading change. 

“It is gratifying to know that patients who come here to receive care will be comforted by the fact that their physician will have access to health alerts, medications, vital signs, test results and patient history, for example, in real time on mobile devices,” Ms Cross said.

“This means improved accuracy, quality and efficiency of our care and overall safety for our patients.

“Being the first fully integrated, digital hospital in Australia stands UnitingCare Health apart.

“The quality of our staff does as well; they live the values of our organisation, offering compassionate and professional care every day of the year. 

“In a few years’ time, the level of care this technology provides will be taken for granted and healthcare innovation would have moved on but at UnitingCare Queensland we are excited about what future possibilities there might be to improve the quality of life for everyone.”

Fraser Coast Mayor Gerard O’Connell acted as MC for the event, emphasising the hospital’s importance to and close ties with the local community.