Two years after UnitingCare Health opened Australia’s first fully integrated hospital on the Fraser Coast, St Stephen’s Hospital General Manager and Director of Nursing Amanda Cruwys is proud to announce yet another major milestone at the multi-award-winning facility.
St Stephen’s purpose-built, fully equipped rehabilitation unit is set to open next week with the brand new inpatient rehabilitation services starting on Monday 17 October. Day rehabilitation services will follow in November. The new service’s official opening event is on Wednesday 19 October from 5pm.
Ms Cruwys said building solid groundwork for future growth and sustainability at the $96 million facility had been the hospital’s priority over the past 12 months.
“As an integral part of the Fraser Coast and greater Wide Bay-Burnett communities, our aim at St Stephen’s is to achieve comprehensive healthcare services for the people of this region,” Ms Cruwys said.
“Already in 2016 we have launched a women’s health clinic and cardiac services as well as mental health services in collaboration with the Sunshine Coast Private Hospital.
“As part of UnitingCare Health, we have also invested in infrastructure to develop rehabilitation services that will open next week under the direction and medical care of Rehabilitation Physician Dr Neala Milburn.
“The new rehabilitation services will offer cardiac and respiratory programs, musculoskeletal and orthopaedic strengthening programs, a falls prevention clinic as well as neuro-rehabilitation, which allows patients to continue their rehabilitation post discharge in a coordinated, multidisciplinary team environment.”
Ms Cruwys said St Stephen’s was proud that over the past year, it had been able to demonstrate a consistent improvement in benchmarked healthcare outcomes for patients.
“For the community, knowing they can receive high quality clinical outcomes here at St Stephen’s is a credit to the dedication of our team; it’s positive and promising for the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the Fraser Coast.”
St Stephen’s Hospital is a not-for-profit organisation owned by the Uniting Church and is a member of UnitingCare Health, which includes The Wesley Hospital and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane and The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital in Buderim.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:
• UnitingCare Health’s $96 million facility, St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay, was the first Australian hospital to completely computerise and integrate all its equipment and processes. The first patients were admitted on 13 October 2014. St Stephen’s was officially opened by The Hon. Peter Dutton, MP, Federal Minister for Health and Minister for Sport, on 8 December 2014, underlining the regional hospital’s national significance.
• St Stephen’s was Australia’s first hospital to achieve Stage 6 certification from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), on the Analytics Medical Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model. This is an internationally recognised measure of the digitisation and integration of a hospital’s technologies, systems and processes.
• St Stephen’s received world recognition with the HIMSS – Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award for ‘Outstanding ICT Achievement’, presented as part of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Asia-Pacific conference in Singapore in September 2015. This award placed St Stephen’s among a select group of world-class healthcare facilities to successfully deploy a high level of health IT to significantly improve quality of care and patient safety.
• St Stephen’s was a finalist in the 2015 Queensland Premier’s Sustainability Awards in the Innovation and Sustainable Technologies category. This award recognises the work of Queenslanders for leadership in sustainability, innovation and eco-efficiency.
• St Stephen’s won two accolades in the 2015 Master Builders Construction Awards – Best Health Service Building over $5 million and Best Overall Construction.
• St Stephen’s won the Health Provider category of the 2015 Fraser Coast Business and Tourism Awards in recognition of its outstanding achievements and contributions to community healthcare on the Fraser Coast.
• St Stephen’s was first established on the former St Stephen’s Maryborough site in 1905. The original facility, known as St Mary’s Hospital, was later acquired by the St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in 1946. A second hospital, St Margaret’s Private Hospital, was also located in what was once known as the John Street Medical Precinct, and stood where St Stephen’s Medical Centre stands today. As part of St Stephen’s living history, land was purchased in Hervey Bay and a day hospital was opened in 2006. This marked the beginning of a long-term development that saw the opening of Australia’s first fully integrated digital hospital in 2014.