Access to mental health services has improved since the opening of a private clinic in Werribee.
The Wyndham Clinic, a hospital on Hoppers Lane, opened last week, providing residents with access to 30 mental health beds.
Chief executive David Gibson said the hospital had been three years in the making.
“Wyndham Clinic fills a large gap for greater Melbourne in the provision of mental health services with a full private mental health facility,” he said.
The hospital is the first private mental health centre in the city and is expected to ease demand for help while Werribee Mercy Hospital’s mental health unit is expanded.
As reported by the Weekly, Mercy’s 54-bed unit is expected to open in 2016. The expansion will nearly double the hospital’s mental health capacity from 29 beds to 54.
Ten beds will be high-dependency – for high-risk patients who are violent or suicidal and need monitoring. Four beds will be used to assess people experiencing short-term mental health conditions such as psychosis or drug overdose.
