A year in review 01
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Since its inception St Vincent’s has had as its primary mission the care of the sick, the poor and the marginalised, while at all times being mindful of the need to adapt and change to meet community demands. The hospital’s mission remains the same while constantly striving for improvement, and this is reflected in the many initiatives undertaken over the past year, the highlights of which are outlined below.
As part of National Health Reform, the NSW government recognised St Vincent’s Hospital, Sacred Heart Hospice and St Joseph’s Hospital, Auburn as a Local Health Network (LHN) in January, 2011. The establishment of the St Vincent’s Health Network compliments the national governance changes within St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA). This will provide tremendous opportunities to present as a united group with a focussed goal of becoming a leader of mission-based, innovative, quality and compassionate healthcare. It will also increase potential for greater synergies between the organisation’s public hospitals, private hospitals and aged care services at a group level. During 2010/2011, a vast amount of construction has taken place on the St Vincent’s campus. In many ways these physical changes reflect the dynamic nature of the organisation’s endeavours. Construction of the $120 million Kinghorn Cancer Centre – a partnership between St Vincent’s and the Garvan
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St Vincents & Mater Health Sydney
Institute of Medical Research – is progressing well, with the centre scheduled to open on time in the middle of 2012. The centre will integrate world-class cancer research with best practices, rapidly translating research findings to patient care. In 2010, St Vincent’s opened the O’Brien Centre; Australia’s first facility to integrate community and mental health with drug and alcohol services. The O’Brien Centre is proving a wonderful physical environment for creating new paradigms of healthcare, with the physicality of the centre ensuring the patient is the focal point of care, and a co-ordinated effort to maximise patient outcomes. Operationally, St Vincent’s has focussed heavily in the past twelve months on improving patient access and patient flow through the hospital. Both bed access and treatment times have improved, mainly through the endeavours of the St Vincent’s Patient Flow and Sustainable Access Committee.
Clinically, the St Vincent’s campus continues to make major inroads in pioneering new treatments to further improve patient outcomes. One major area where St Vincent’s has become an international leader is in the development of heart and lung mechanical assist devices. In the past, up to one-quarter of patients awaiting heart transplants died before receiving a new heart. Today, thanks to the mechanical devices that St Vincent’s has helped pioneer, the number has dropped to five percent of patients. In August 2010, the hospital performed the southern hemisphere’s first Total Artificial Heart transplant. This device completely replaces the diseased heart and allows the recipient to improve in health and strength while they await a transplant. The device also has the advantage of being portable so that the person can return home and it represents an important bridging option for those who would not likely survive the wait for a transplant