South Gippsland Hospital is located in the small town of Foster at the gateway to Wilson’s Promontory, Corner Inlet and Waratah Bay. The town of Foster has a population of approximately 1200 people however the official catchment area of the Hospital boasts 6,500 people.
The organisation, classified as a small rural health service , is an integrated hospital and community health service providing a broad range of acute and primary care services. It is closely associated with the Foster and Toora Medical Centres which provide the medical practitioner services.
The hospital has:
- 16 inpatient beds
- an Urgent Care Department
- low risk birthing services
- an operating theatre
- same day procedures
- a contracted radiology service
The Community Health Centre (CHC) has a broad range of services and health promotion activities to help local residents develop healthy lifestyles and prevent and manage illness. Services are delivered in the CHC, via clinics in surrounding towns, or home visits. For further information visit the Community Health Centre webpage.
Vision, Mission, Strategic Directions and Values
1.1 VISION
- Our Vision is to create the healthiest community in the State.
1.2 MISSION
- Our Mission is to provide and promote the best health services for all our community, using safe and caring practices, through strong collaborations with all our partners.
1.3 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS
- Preventing illness and injury, where possible.
- Healing, where we can;
- Helping, when we can; and
- Caring, even after a patient leaves us.
1.4 CORE VALUES
- Adaptability: We will be flexible and accepting of new ideas and change for the better.
- Mutual respect: We treat others the way we want to be treated.
- Accountability: We accept responsibility for our actions, attitudes, and mistakes.
- Trust: We act with integrity and can rely on each other.
- Excellence: We do our best at all times and look for ways to improve.
The first hospital in Foster was established by Margaret McClure as a private institution on the corner of Nelson and Court Streets. The second private hospital was established on the corner of Main and Nelson Streets in 1907 by Sister Emily Hose and continued as such until 1937 when it was taken over by the public as a community hospital.
It gained public hospital status in 1941, when it was incorporated under the Hospital and Charities Act and a new building opened in Station Road in 1952.
A Community Health Centre, which is co-located on the hospital site, was opened in June 2001. This money was made available largely from hospital reserves and community fund raising. Growing demand for primary care services saw this building reach full capacity and late in 2007 the Board approved the construction of an extension to allow the organisation to meet the current and future needs of the community. The works, which were completed in November 2008, were fully funded through the Hospital’s reserves and the generous donations received from the community.