The Weekly Advertiser – Wednesday, March 17, 2021

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Vol. No. Vol. 2318No. 36 27

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Wednesday, January 13, 2021 2016 Wednesday, March 17,

HATS NEED FILLING: Wimmera Southern Mallee Local Learning and Employment Network project officer Vanessa O’Loughlin, left, and Uniting Wimmera community connector Sarah Rowe hang caps along Horsham Botanic Gardens fence as part of March Mentoring Month. ‘Hats off to mentors’ is the theme in an appeal for people to volunteer and ‘fill a hat’ as a youth mentor. Centre for Participation is also involved in the drive, which has seen hats suddenly appear in various locations across Horsham. Information sessions about the program will be at ‘The Station’ in Horsham on March 26. People keen to find out more can call Ms Rowe on 0435 449 862 or Mrs O’Loughlin on 0418 312 556. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Project ramps up S

BY DEAN LAWSON

ooner rather than later’ is a catchcry an advocacy group has adopted in a renewed push for a regional public mental-health centre in Horsham.

The group believes Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommendations have ‘opened the door’ for the Wimmera to stake a strong claim in becoming a western Victorian mental-health-service base. In poring over a list of recommendations, which the State Government has confirmed it will adopt, the group has identified a need to act quickly in consolidating and growing community support to establish a case. Healthy Minds Horsham and regional Rotary clubs joined forces in 2019

to form a united front to tackle a ‘serious health-service gap’ in the region. The partnership has since strongly pushed the concept through the media and made a presentation and written submission to a commission community consultation in Hamilton. Healthy Minds Horsham spokesman Gavin Morrow said the commission had established a framework to overhaul inadequate mental-health services across the state, but there remained a ‘blatant’ need to get the formula right ‘on the ground’. “That means working through the devil in the detail and pursuing what needs to happen for our region to get something tangible,” he said. “The Rural Outreach program that works across some of the more isolated parts of the Wimmera has in many

cases been a wonderful intervention service. But the reality is we need something more comprehensive. “The area Horsham services is enormous and for some, referral to specialists in even further-away Ballarat or Melbourne, or a lengthy wait of several weeks or months for appointments to see visiting specialists, are inappropriate. “We need greater guarantees of 24hour face-to-face help and close-athand follow-up for people experiencing a mental crisis and we need them here in the Wimmera.” Mr Morrow said while it seemed obvious Horsham represented a central point for a vast region, there was a danger it would be overlooked based on a bureaucratic geographical analysis.

“Ballarat is too far away and so too is Bendigo or Mildura. It is as simple as that,” he said. Mr Morrow said it was important to develop a service and centre based on an understanding that mental illness was indiscriminate. “It doesn’t matter the age, gender or cultural or racial background of anyone,” he said. “What we ultimately offer must be able to cut through any issues involving public or private patients. “Help must be immediately available for everyone. “We envisage a comprehensive centre that can readily respond to the needs of the region and feature facilities that could cope with people needing extended stays.” Mr Morrow stressed that a primary

message coming from commission recommendations was that communities needed to play a major role in the process. “This means we can’t wait for it to come from the top, it has to come from the bottom up. Wimmera Cancer Centre in Horsham provides a clear example of this type of communityled project,” he said. “And we can’t afford to somehow mix this in with a proposed merger debate between Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services. “This has nothing to do with the merger issue – it is all about establishing something in the Wimmera.” Continued page 3

IN THIS ISSUE • Vaccine roll-out to start this week • Creek to face court • Cricket awards Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au

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