A purpose-built Mental Health Acute Inpatient Service has opened its doors. Photo: Queensland Health.
Over the past couple of years, the Ipswich community has watched as a new, state-of-the-art building has taken shape.
Now, the purpose-built Mental Health Acute Inpatient Service has opened its doors to give residents of one of the fastest growing health regions in Queensland access to a range of support and healthcare services.
The $104.6 million service features open spaces, rooftop courtyard, internal green spaces, recreation areas, gymnasium, table tennis and barbecue facilities to encourage social interaction with staff and visitors.
Best of all, the building has 64 beds, 16 more than the old facility which was recently demolished to make way for stage two of the Ipswich Hospital Expansion.
It’s not just the patients who are benefitting. West Moreton Health staff appreciate working in a secure, modern building designed to promote patient wellbeing and recovery.
West Moreton Health Chief Executive Hannah Bloch said the previous building was definitely past its use-by date.
West Moreton Health Chief Executive Hannah Bloch. Photo: Queensland Health.
“Our community deserves world-class services, and you can see by looking around that it’s a calming environment with lots of natural light,” she said.
“It’s all part of the Ipswich Hospital expansion. We need more beds, more services, more buildings as the community grows. The removal of the old mental health building frees up space for us to move forward with the next stage of expansion.”
Consumers and community representatives, including First Nations Elders, were consulted throughout the design and construction phases to ensure the design was culturally and socially inclusive.
“We want to offer a safe environment for First Nations peoples,” Ms Bloch said.
“We invited community members to be involved in the design here and their input is built into the fabric of the service. You can see it all through the building, from artwork to bush tucker areas to yarning circles. These elements are incredibly important to First Nations peoples in the West Moreton region.”
The reaction to the facility from staff and patients has been nothing but positive from the day the doors opened.
The new rooms provide a calming environment. Photo: Queensland Health.
“The quality of the rooms and the environment, such as breakout rooms to work on programs, a gymnasium, having that ability to look out at the world … we’ve really been able to focus on wellbeing and recovery for those who use this service,” Ms Bloch said.
“We had one person who said they felt like they were staying in a hotel, and we’ve seen the difference in our patients as they are responding to this incredibly calming environment.”
Ms Bloch said the health infrastructure being created in West Moreton would now support the delivery of quality healthcare in the future.
“Our challenge is always ‘what comes next’,” Ms Bloch said. “Early works have now started on the $710 million acute services building beside Ipswich Hospital which will deliver an extra 200 beds, new and expanded emergency department and new operating theatres by 2028.
“We are making a huge investment in models of care, infrastructure and recruitment to support our community in the years to come.”
