Annual Report - Northern Health

Our ServicesNorthern Health is one of Victoria’s busiest health services. Ouracute and sub-acute health services cover a local community ofapproximately 728,000 people and our emergency departmentis the busiest in the state, treating almost 70,000 patients eachyear.Demand for our maternity services is also high with 2,694babies born at Northern Health in 2011-12.The Northern Health catchment encompasses the rapidlyexpanding local government areas of Banyule, Darebin, Hume,Nillumbik, Whittlesea and Moreland.We have 3,250 staff and approximately 200 volunteers workingacross five operating campuses: The Northern Hospital;Broadmeadows Health Services; Bundoora Extended CareCentre; Panch Health Service and Craigieburn Health Service.The northern community is located in one of Melbourne’s mostsignificant growth corridors and our local population is expectedto grow by 64% or an additional 128,569 people by 2031.Our local community is extremely diverse with more than118 different languages spoken and many of our communitymembers experience significant socio-economic disadvantage.We currently make about 200 appointments per month forAboriginal people at our outpatient clinics, and we see two tothree Aboriginal people a day in our Emergency Department.We also have, on average, one Aboriginal baby born each weekat The Northern Hospital.Our vision at Northern Health is to create a healthier northerncommunity, and our key challenge now and in the years ahead,will be to continue to provide accessible, quality care to meetthe varied and growing needs of northern residents.18 annual report Northern Health 11/12