News

Mental Health Observation Area opening a benefit to local community

Feb 20, 2018

The official opening of the new Mental Health Observation Area (MHOA) took place in February at Joondalup Health Campus (JHC).

The Health Minister Hon Roger Cook MLA and Ramsay Health Care Australia Chief Operating Officer Kate Munnings led the event; acknowledging the opening as another successful joint project between the WA Government and Ramsay Health Care.

“The important long standing Public Private Partnership is undoubtedly one of the most successful in the country,” the Minister said.

“The new MHOA will go part of the way to improving mental health services for residents in Perth’s northern suburbs.

“While it remains an extension of the Emergency Department, the MHOA is a more appropriate setting for mental health patients because it is a quieter safer environment, not dealing with the general accident and emergency patients who present 24 hours seven days a week, which could be very confronting for someone experiencing mental illness.”

During the formalities, Ramsay Health Care Australia Chief Operating Officer Kate Munnings spoke about the impact of mental health issues in the community with one in five people suffering a mental health disorder in any one year.

“Mental illness has no boundaries,” Kate said. “It is a universal problem that affects people of all ages, cultures and all levels of education.”

Ramsay Health Care has a long standing history in mental health with the first clinic established by our Founder, the late Paul Ramsay, in Sydney in 1964.

Since then it has grown to be the largest provider of private mental health services in Australia operating 25 mental health units across the country with approximately 1000 beds.