South Tuggeranong will have a new health centre, with services tailored to local needs and reflecting feedback from the community, the ACT Government announced.
The centre will be built in Conder, on the corner of Box Hill Avenue and Heidelberg Street.
This new facility is the first of four new health centres; another three will come to the Inner South (Griffith), North Gungahlin (Casey), and West Belconnen (Ginninderry). The government states they will provide localised multidisciplinary care with a focus on preventive care and advice, early intervention, and the management of chronic illness.
In the 2023-24 Budget, the ACT Government committed $16.6 million over four years to design and construct a new community-based facility in South Tuggeranong and to plan the sites and early design for community-based health centres in the Inner South and North Gungahlin.
“We know that to cater for our growing city, we need a public health system that can provide the right care at the right time, in convenient locations across Canberra,” said Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
“This new health centre will provide residents in South Tuggeranong with more health services, closer to home. This is part of our ongoing commitment to plan and build a health care system that can grow with our community, bringing together skilled professionals with state-of-the-art technology and quality infrastructure.”
The government identified the location in Conder after a 2022 feasibility study. They believe it provides good connections for the community because it is close to arterial roads, and has good access to public transport routes and accessible car parking. It is also close to other health facilities and services, such as general practice, pharmacy, imaging, pathology, allied health and dentists.
“We want to build on the success of our free and public community health services, such as child and family, mental health, walk-in centre and aged care services, by delivering more community-based health centres,” said Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health.
“This will allow Canberrans to access care closer to home and reduce the need to go to hospital for treatment and appointments.
“We are seeing increased incidence of chronic illness, complex health conditions and an ageing population. That is why, in growing our community health services, we are establishing these new health centres that will provide the opportunity to bring together multidisciplinary and interprofessional services to support the care our community needs.
“The South Tuggeranong health centre will be designed to have the flexibility to cater for different services, allowing us to respond to the needs of the community now and into the future.”
The government recently released a tender to progress the design of the health centre in South Tuggeranong. The clinical services and design will be finalised in consultation with clinicians, consumers, and the local community before the project progresses to the development application stage, which is expected in the first half of 2024.
Residents will be able to have their say on health centres coming to the Inner South and North Gungahlin.
For more information, visit the Built for CBR website.
