Happy patients
STAGE one of the Bass Coast Regional Health’s (BCRH) $6 million extension is fully operational.
This extension was part of the Community Rehabilitation Centre (CRC) redevelopment, which included upgrades to dental, podiatry, and physiotherapy facilities.
The project was funded by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and state funded.
Stage one has been functioning since mid November but BCRH still has plans to update furniture, fixtures and equipment before it is fully complete.
The dental facility is a five chair, state of the art clinic. Each suite was designed in the same format and was purposely built to accommodate private practice.
It is well equipped with state of the art x-rays and configured to be easily accessible for both left and right handed dentists.
A highlight is the new sterile stock room, which has been commended for its visible cupboard and easy access. It passed the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards with flying colours.
Processing patients is much quicker and the treatment of patients has improved, equalling the standards of the Royal Dental Hospital.
Other design features include swipe card access and two more rooms, which could expand the facility to become a six chair clinic or include more clinical offices.
Dental records are now fully electronic and BCRH has been able to cut the wait time to just under six months. This is a huge advancement according to BCRH’s director of community services Ward Steet.
Senior dentist Anne Ngaw said, “Patients really appreciate this building compared to what they had before.”
Further plans to the CRC building include two lifts, which will come into play during the stage two. For now, that space is being used as a meeting room.
A referral coordination room has been built adjacent to reception and an open plan gym has also been built.
The gym has an interview room, plenty of storage and a sound pipe through the ceiling to control music. An ADL (activities for daily living) kitchen has also been set up, configured for wheelchair access and includes plenty of training features.
Two new podiatry rooms are now up and running, which can be used for consultations.
The physiotherapy section is still in the existing building, but two new rooms have been added for extra therapy and treatment areas.
“It’s been good to continue to work with the existing building,” Mr Steet said.
Landscaping and refurbishing are the next steps on BCRH’s agenda, with stage two of the redevelopment still to come.
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