Bendigo Community Health Services’ (BCHS) life changing Pharmacotherapy Clinic has been awarded $1 million to create a space that matches its quality of care.
BCHS AOD and Mental Health Services Operations Manager Cilla Boucher said the grant would fund a total refurbishment and expansion of the 1970s-style clinic space.
“With this funding our opioid treatment service can enter a new era,” she said.
“We can’t wait to create a building that is welcoming, modern, safe, accessible, and in keeping with what our community deserves.”
With just two consult rooms to use for sometimes upwards of 35 clients a day, the small Kangaroo Flat site has been taking care of some of Bendigo’s most vulnerable people for decades, delivering Opioid Dependence Treatment since 1992.
BCHS CEO Mandy Hutchinson said a lack of functional space and privacy were just two reasons the grant was applied for through the state government’s Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Capital Renewal Fund.
“We have long been advocating for funds to improve the infrastructure of our sites and I am so grateful to the state government for this funding,” Mandy said.
“We value dignity, respect and inclusion, and all of our clients deserve to be looked after in a space that reflects that.”
BCHS Practice Manager Community Pharmacotherapy Carlotta Standen agreed with Mandy and said the excitement from her team about what the pending building works meant for their clients was palpable.
“We are so excited about this grant and all the good we can do with it,” she said. “Our clients deserve a welcoming and safe space that is fit for purpose.
“With this funding we are planning on expanding the number of consult rooms that we have so we can provide more care to people more often.
“People cycle through readiness when it comes to getting treatment and the demand for our services is there; we’ve been seeing that in the number of self-referrals and walk-ins.
“This service allows us to help people change their lives. It allows more stability in people’s lives. It allows them to get back to study, to get back to work, to just get back to functioning in a better way for them, whatever that entails,” Carlotta said.
“The people here are angels”
Since starting her recovery journey, receiving non-judgemental care in a safe space is all one woman said she wanted.
“Never in a million years did I think I’d be in this position, but I am, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this clinic,” she said.
Fifteen years ago, a period of serious mental illness led to a heroin addiction for the former nurse who ended up in hospital multiple times while withdrawing.
At first, treatment meant a daily trip to the pharmacy for methadone, but once long-acting injectable buprenorphine became more widely available, she switched to that. It’s now been four years since she began receiving treatment at the BCHS Pharmacotherapy Clinic.
“It’s been a game-changer for me,” she said. “I hated those trips to the pharmacy and all the judgement I would silently get.
“People who work in addiction are special people,” she said. “This clinic is brilliant. The doctors are lovely, the people here are angels, and I’ve even used the telehealth when I’ve needed to.”
Though the site is clearly dated, the clinic feels like home in a way, she said.
“It’s the people who really make this clinic what it is. I’m happy they’re going to do this place up, not because of me but because of the girls. Honestly, whatever makes them happy makes me happy.”