Pat Conaghan MP

Crucial youth mental health service celebrates recent Centre upgrade

Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan joined the headspace Port Macquarie and Healthy North Coast teams to celebrate the official opening of the newly refurbished centre space.

The Port Macquarie facility received $148,000 under Stream 3 of the Federal Government’s Headspace Demand Management and Enhancement program. The program was initiated under the Coalition in 2018-19 with an investment of $152 million over seven years to boost services and facilities at headspace across the country.

The Port Macquarie centre upgrades included a rework of the existing floor space to provide expanded capacity and function for staff, two new pods for telehealth appointments and new furniture, paint and lighting upgrades to enhance the space and make it fit-for-purpose.

Headspace Port Macquarie Community Engagement Manager Sandy Guthrie thanks Mr. Conaghan for the funding for this important project and recognised the need for more funding in the future.

“It’s fantastic to receive funding for this beautifully updated space here in the heart of Port Macquarie. The upgrades have turned the facility into a welcoming and safe space for young people to come in and seek the supports they need,” Ms Guthrie stated.

“We’ve added additional consultation rooms which allows for more privacy and the ability to see more young people at once on the days that have higher demand.”

“We have two GPs on staff, which is wonderful, but to be able to provide the services that we’d like to for our young people we need more clinicians. Now that we have the additional space, it would be fantastic to expand our staff along with it!”

As a father with two teenage sons, Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan is no stranger to the pressures and demands on our youth and the critical need for mental health concerns to be addressed as early and as quickly as possible to build the foundations for healthy adult lives.

“It’s no secret that mental health and access to appropriate care and services are one of the most pressing issues facing our region’s young people,” Mr Conaghan said.

“With recent events from COVID-19 lockdowns to floods, fires and cost of living pressures – our region’s youth are feeling the compounded effects.

“Headspace has long been the Government preferred provider of mental health services for those aged 12 to 25, and for good reason. They are a trusted network of safe hands for those in need in our community. It’s wonderful to see this crucial service receive even a small amount of the support it deserves. And we know that these centres can always do with more.

“With the current wait times for to see a GP being up to 10 weeks and to see a psychiatrist being up to 3 months, there is definitely more to do when it comes to attracting and retaining mental health and health care specialists to regional areas. I look forward to working with the headspace teams across the Mid North Coast to assist in any way that I can in securing those resources.”

 

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