She said collaborating with Ballarat during the COVID-19 pandemic provided an example how health services could work better together.
“When the pandemic came, one of the things that came about was what the government called clusters and as part of that, Ballarat Health Services became our lead,” she said.
“Through that process, as a small health service, we were able to tap into infectious-disease specialists and gain a lot of support, which allowed us to have the best response possible.
“We could not have done what we did alone – Ballarat gave us a platform to be able to work really closely with our community.”
Ms Pryde said partnering with Ballarat and Wimmera Health Care Group would allow the health service to focus on resourcing priority areas in the hospital.
“The truth is, we’ve benefited greatly from different partnerships across the region to get a better bang for our buck,” she said.
“We can look to some bigger services and tap into what they have to allow us to build for the future.
“That will give us more resources to buy the medial equipment we need and upgrade the facilities to the level they need to be at.
“And it’s not just about getting more nurses, doctors and clinicians. We also have a maintenance team, trainees and apprentices working here.
“We also need to be compliant around legislation and law, but I don’t have a team of lawyers or a lot of the resources bigger hospitals have.”
The partnership conversation will tie into a 10 to 20-year long-term plan the health-service management board is developing to ensure the group’s future viability and ability to provide appropriate services for the Stawell community.
Ms Pryde said Stawell Regional Health was looking at three options to improve its service, which included remaining independent, strengthening partnerships or voluntary amalgamation.
She said the board was inviting the community to provide feedback on its planning through a range of consultation activities that started this month.
“Right now, the way any amalgamation might look is in a design phase – that’s why we’re asking for feedback from the community,” she said.
“I hear a lot of concern about autonomy. Our community wants autonomy, so we need to understand how we can achieve that.
“People also keep saying we need to lobby for more money, but money alone is not the answer to improving health care.
“Money is part of it, but it’s also about using our money better by capitalising on capacity in the region.
“You could throw all the money in the world at Stawell Regional Health, but that can’t buy me all the doctors I need, the education we need to provide, a lawyer that looks at legislation – it’s not just about money.”
People can provide feedback on the health service’s future planning at: srh.org.au/about/future-planning-for-stawell-regional-health-have-your-say/feedback-on-the-future-planning-for-stawell-regional-health/ until May 21.
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