SWH saves the day
Of the almost 10,000 additional people admitted to Victorian hospitals between July and December last year, South West Healthcare treated a staggering 1,599 of them.
Compared to the same period 12 months earlier, an additional 121 patients were admitted to our Camperdown hospital and an extra 1,478 to our Warrnambool hospital. Together, the two accounted for 17.5 per cent of Victoria’s total July-December-recorded increase. Impressive by anyone’s standards.
Releasing these latest Your Hospital report statistics, Health Minister Daniel Andrews commended all health staff, saying they’re ‘working hard to provide the very best care to patients’. SWH Chief Executive Officer John Krygger couldn’t agree more.
'The report highlights that the health service is well regarded by our community and reflects our increasing role of serving a growing regional population. The statistics highlight a 17.5 per cent increase in admissions at our Warrnambool hospital and a 15.5 per cent increase in admissions at our Camperdown hospital.
‘Such substantial increases in patient admissions is a fantastic result and all staff should be congratulated for their additional effort in this regard,’ says John.
What’s even more astounding is that staff at both hospitals have risen to the challenge while working in the midst of disruptive, large-scale capital redevelopments. Warrnambool’s new $115 million hospital redevelopment project is now just 12 months away from completion (come May 2011 the city will own regional Australia’s most modern health facility) while Camperdown will soon have the most modern of Midwifery Units.
Your Hospitals (July-December 2009) also released some other impressive results for South West Healthcare. In a baptism of fire, Dr Matthew Wright took on the role of Director of Emergency during a period of unheard-of Emergency Department demand.
His Warrnambool Emergency Department treated 12,248 patients – 347 more than the same time a year earlier. It also exceeded the national 80 per cent benchmark of treating and discharging patients not needing to stay-on in hospital afterwards by three per cent and treated 100 per cent of its category-1 emergency patients immediately on arrival. (Statistical breakdowns for the Camperdown Emergency Department are not yet available.)
photo SWH Director of Emergency Dr Matthew Wright with one of the thousands of patients his Emergency Department has so far treated this year, Doreen Clark.
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