REFUGEES and asylum seekers living in Wyndham will have improved access to health services under a new triage system run by the Western Region Health Centre and ISIS Primary Care.
The program will allow newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers to access health assessments and medical treatment upon arrival so that any illnesses and diseases they may have caught in camps or while travelling to Australia can be treated.
The program will be funded by the state government. More than $463,000 has been allocated for its first year.
Health Minister David Davis said the new system would help refugee and asylum seekers get the health care many of them desperately needed.
Western Region Health Centre chief executive Lyn Morgain said the centre already provided refugees with vital health services through its health nurses and community mental health workers, and the new program would help address demand for services in the western suburbs.
“WRHC’s refugee health nurses and community mental health workers assess the physical and mental health needs of refugees and asylum seekers and support them to access a wide range of health services including dental, counselling and physiotherapy,” Ms Morgain said.
“The aim of the refugee health service is to promote well-being and enable clients to live independently in the community.’’
