'Me too,' says Leongatha & Korumburra
BASS Coast Health has followed the lead of 80 per cent of its local inpatients, who have already opted to get their high-level care from major metro hospitals including Peninsula Health, Alfred Health and Monash Health and have made a strong case for joining the Bayside Local Health Service Network.
It had been recommended, in the State Government’s Health Services Plan, directing the state’s biggest-ever reform of hospital management and operations, that Bass Coast Health (BCH) would be part of the Gippsland network.
This network was to have included Bairnsdale Regional Health Service, Bass Coast Health, Central Gippsland Health Service, Gippsland Southern Health Service, Omeo District Health, Orbost Regional Health, South Gippsland Hospital, and Yarram & District Health Service with Latrobe Regional Hospital acting as the region’s Group A hospital “supporting the delivery of greater than 85% of care locally over time”.
However, at its annual general meeting on Thursday this week, Bass Coast Health has firmly nailed its colours to the Bayside network mast, expected to include the following health services; Alfred Health, Kooweerup Regional Health Service and Peninsula Health, in partnership with Calvary Health Care Bethlehem, a denominational hospital at Caulfield South.
The network would serve a population 1.15 million, including Bass Coast’ permanent population of 40,789 (ABS 2021). The population of Bass Coast swells to more than 70,000 or 80,000 during peak holiday periods.
Speaking about the preferred option within the reforms proposed by the Health Services Plan, BCH Board Member Julia Oxley detailed the local health service’s comprehensive bid to join Bayside, a position that was endorsed by the board and communicated to the Secretary of the Department of Health, Professor Euan Wallace, last week.
Ms Oxley said the board was confident that joining the Bayside network was the best outcome for the community of Bass Coast.
“Bass Coast Health is committed to improving the health and wellbeing outcomes for our community as a growing subregional health service serving the needs of Bass Coast and South Gippsland but we cannot achieve this alone,” said Ms Oxley.
“Last week our board chairman Ian Thompson with the full support of the Bass Coast Health Board and the Community Advisory Committee wrote to the Department of Health Secretary to confirm Bass Coast Health’s intent to be part of the Bayside Local Health Service Network.
“Initially the Expert Advisory Committee aligned Bass Coast with the Gippsland network but we are confident that this is the best solution for our service building on strong and established links with Peninsula Health and Alfred Health.
“The board recognises that amalgamation will deliver the best outcomes including safe, high-quality care closer to home and is committed to this path which will build upon existing local partnerships and connections and strengthen the use of resources to reduce duplication and improve local access to care.”
Ms Oxley said that following the release of the government’s Health Services Plan, with its qualified recommendation that Bass Coast join the Gippsland network, Bass Coast Health undertook an extensive consultation program, meeting with and surveying 600 employees and community members to obtain their perspective on the future structure of health services including the Wonthaggi Rotary Club, Phillip Island Medical and Health Action Group (PIMHAG) and Inverloch Lions Club.
These forums and also consultation with the Community Advisory Committee, who contacted their own community networks, Ms Oxley said, revealed overwhelming support for BCH being a part of the Bayside network.
Natural pathways, she said, were already established, reinforced by the needs of the people who visited the area regularly from south-eastern Melbourne and accessed the Wonthaggi Hospital ED and Phillip Island Community Health Hub for health care.
Ms Oxley said drive times were shorter to Melbourne on dual-lane highways, whereas it took people from Cowes two hours to travel across the Strzeleckis to Traralgon while public transport links were also firmly established towards Melbourne.
“Since 2016. Bass Coast Health has sought to deliver safe, high-quality care, grow clinical services and capability and improve self-sufficiency of our catchment and sub-region through strategic partnerships. Our partnership with Alfred Health has been instrumental in this and in lifting Bass Coast Health self-sufficiency and sub-regional capability with specialist services and workforce across surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, haematology, dermatology, deontology and cardiology plus the Monash pathology services. This is expanding to respiratory, sleep studies, and multidisciplinary meetings for breast surgery and oncology – a pretty powerful partnership.”
Pathway enhancement to Peninsula Health, especially through Frankston hospital, had also been crucial to the development of Bass Coast Health’s capacity to service its subregional community.
Ms Oxley said joining the Bayside Health Network would provide Bass Coast with superior access to whole of life health care and personal care.
“To date 80% of transferred Bass Coast Health inpatients have chosen to travel to metropolitan Melbourne care whilst 5% have chosen to go to Traralgon.”
Ms Oxley said the BCH board was also hoping that the name 'Bass Coast' might be included in the branding for the new 'Bayside' network.
While recommending, on balance, that Bass Coast Health would be better placed within the Gippsland network, the state government’s expert advisory panel did give thought to other options for BCH in its Health Services Plan.
“We recognise that the western portion of the Network, notably Bass Coast Shire, has significant patient flow patterns to metropolitan Melbourne health services for higher capability care. However, many of the service delivery issues experienced in Bass Coast Shire have more in common with the challenges faced by other rural communities than with metropolitan areas. Accordingly, the Committee concluded on balance that Bass Coast Health is better grouped with the rest of Gippsland.”
The state government was due to make an announcement before the end of the year about the establishment of a system of geographic Local Health Service Networks, six in regional Victoria Barwon South West, Grampians, Loddon Mallee, Hume and Gippsland; and six in Metropolitan Melbourne West Metro, Parkville, North Metro, East Metro, South Metro and Bayside.
But it appears that the announcement will now come early in the New Year.
The sticking point for the Gippsland network, without Bass Coast, is that it will struggle to reach the optimal population, of more than 200,000 as recommended by the expert panel.
This might be achieved if the municipality of Baw Baw (Warragul), with its population of 57,626, and the West Gippsland Healthcare Group, joined the Gippsland network instead of Monash.
At its recent annual general meeting, Gippsland Southern Health Service, with hospitals at Leongatha and Korumburra, also expressed a preference to go with Bass Coast Health Koo Wee Rup hospital and Peninsula Health and join Bayside while South Gippsland Hospital at Foster wants to go with the Gippsland grouping and LRH.
As well as its response to the hospital reform plans, Bass Coast Health’s annual general meeting introduced new Interim CEO Professor Simone Alexander, thanked its long-serving employees, honoured its volunteers and the funding from its auxiliaries and marked the eight-year contribution to BCH by its retiring CEO Jan Child.
Me too! Leongatha Korumburra go Bayside
Gippsland Southern Health Service (GSHS) also wants to join an expanded Bayside Local Health Area Network as part of Victoria’s Health Services Plan.
The health service issued a statement to that effect on Friday, December 6 after hinting at its recent annual meeting that it wanted to be in a group that included Bass Coast Health, Koo Wee Rup and Peninsula Health.
Here is the statement from Gippsland Southern Health Service, with hospitals at Korumburra and Leongatha:
Under a proposal put forward by GSHS, the rural services of Bass Coast Health and Gippsland Southern Health would be removed from the proposed Gippsland Network and join Bayside.
GSHS, which has hospitals in Leongatha and Korumburra, says the geography of the region makes it difficult to connect to the central-east parts of Gippsland.
Under GSHS’s proposal, the expanded Bayside Local Health Area Network would include Alfred Health, Peninsula Health, KooWeeRup Health Service, Calvary Health care Bethlehem, Bass Coast Health and Gippsland Southern Health Service.
Board Chair Athina Georgiou confirmed that GSHS had put in a proposal to be connected to the Bayside network.
Ms Georgiou said people in the communities of Leongatha and Korumburra typically travel to Melbourne on larger and major roads for care and have established connections to health care in Melbourne.
“Data demonstrates that people in our community use local services or mostly go to Melbourne for care, aligning with the proposed network,” Ms Georgiou said.
“It’s an easier drive for a lot of our community than getting to Traralgon to access Latrobe Regional Health.”
The proposed expanded Bayside Local Health Area Network would be continuous and aligned to major roads and transport corridors.
“Travel times to larger health services in the Bayside network, particularly Peninsula Health, are similar or closer than travelling to Latrobe Regional Health,” she said.
Ms Georgiou stressed that the proposal was initiated by GSHS. “This is our choice and our proposal based on what we believe is best for our community and supported by our staff,” she said.
GSHS has strong existing pathways and connections with services in the Bayside network, particularly Bass Coast Health (BCH).
CEO Lou Sparkes said that under GSHS’s proposal, local residents would benefit from greater access to care via single wait lists for surgery, establishment of referral pathways through the network, enhanced use of capacity across the network, including more use of rural sites by the larger health services.
“We believe our proposal would result in care closer to home for our local residents and improved health outcomes for the local population, with better connections to medical expertise, prevention programs and primary care teams.”
Ms Sparkes said a network that includes both Peninsula and Alfred had potential to increase self-sufficiency and allow greater co-ordination in access for care.
She added that there would be capacity to increase use of the Korumburra and Leongatha hospitals.
“We would benefit from a bigger population and being able to provide 95 per cent of all health services that would ever be required within the network.”
GSHS has multiple MOUs with BCH and a MOU for the south coast subregional partnership including BCH and Koo Wee Rup Health Service.
The networks are expected to take effect from July 1, 2025.
