COMMUNITY health services at Cohuna now have a visible presence following the opening of new premises.
Six years to the day after the Northern District Community Health Service opened its main headquarters at Kerang, more than 70 people helped celebrate the completion of a permanent venue at the corner of King Edward and Cullen Streets.
The service was initially based at Cohuna District Hospital before the area was converted to become the hospital’s nursing home, with a long association with Gannawarra Shire Council’s offices in the town following.
“Our headquarters at shire offices were no longer provided sufficient space for our services, and it was thanks to our chief executive officer, Elaine Bartram at the time, who saw that a little brick building in the town would be suitable as a base for NDCHS,” the service’s chairman, Merril Kelly said.
“It has been obvious to us during the transformation of this site that it has created much community interest and made the service more visible in the community.”
The new facility includes five dedicated consulting rooms to provide speech pathology, podiatry, footcare, diabetes education, dietitian, counselling, youth services, homelessness services, women’s and men’s health programs.
The venue also features a large meeting room, which held the service’s annual meeting following the official opening.
The service recorded a “modest” profit of $62,064 during the 2015/16 financial year, which will be reinvested back into the community.
The opening of the new Cohuna venue was one of many highlights to occur during the past 12 months.
Other achievements include the establishment of a presence at Koondrook at the town’s senior citizens centre, the purchasing of the Fitzroy Street Medical Clinic and preparations for the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which come into effect in the Shire of Loddon in May 2017 and the Shire of Gannawarra in January 2019.
“There’s been a number of changes – some that we’ve done, like the purchasing of the Fitzroy Street Medical Clinic, and other that have been placed on us – but it’s all about the bigger picture regarding better services,” the service’s chief executive officer, Greg Little said.
“The establishment of the NDIS is one of the biggest changes seen and we are up for the challenge.”
