A $42 million state-of-the-art palliative care facility and updates day surgery centre has been opened at St Vincent’s Mater Hospital in Wollstonecraft.
The Ritchie Family Centre for Supportive and Palliative Care will care for people on Sydney’s North Shore approaching the end of their lives.
An estimated 235 palliative care patients will use the 12 beds in the new centre every year.
The centre will also serve as a research and teaching facility for advancing palliative care practices, including increasing provision of care in the home.
The Mater’s director of palliative care, Dr Wei Lee, said in a statement the Ritchie Family Centre would be unique.
“As well as palliative care, we will provide supportive care, which is a comprehensive approach for people with cancer or chronic, life-limiting illnesses that optimises their quality of life by addressing complex physical symptoms as well as emotional, practical, and spiritual needs from diagnosis onwards.”
The second floor of the new wing at the Mater will house an expanded day surgery unit, including another endoscopy suite. The Duncan Family Day Surgery Centre allows the hospital to support medical procedures that are increasingly offered as day surgery admissions.
The Friends of the Mater Foundation committed $18.5 million to the project. This was made possible with significant philanthropy from the Ritchie, Duncan, and Van Norton-Poche families as well as many other donations.
St Vincent’s CEO, Chris Blake, explained that the new centre would strengthen health services for people living north of the Harbour Bridge.
“The St Vincent’s Mater Hospital is well-known for several key specialities: its maternity, cancer, orthopaedic, cardiac and surgical services, for example. But for many years, there has been a growing demand for a new palliative care service on Sydney’s North Shore,” said Blake.
“As an organisation, St Vincent’s has a long and rich history in end-of-life care. We established the first palliative care services in three states: NSW, Victoria and Queensland. It’s part of our DNA.
“It’s a privilege for us to now bring that expertise and know-how to the St Vincent’s Mater, thanks to the incredible generosity and effort of the Friends of the Mater Foundation, which has raised $85 million for the hospital over the past 25 years.”
Chairman of Friends of the Mater, Dr Keith Hartman AM, said the development represented a significant step forward in the Mater’s commitment to patients throughout all stages of their lives. Combined, the two new centres – palliative care and day surgery – will see more than 5800 patients per year.
“The philosophy of the Sisters who founded the Mater 120 years ago was that no one should die alone and we are fulfilling that mission,” Dr Hartman said.
Now that voluntary assisted dying has been legalised in NSW as an option for end-of-life care, palliative care has become increasingly important. Former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet allocated $753 million over five years in 2022. However, after the Coalition lost the 2023 election, the Minns government reallocated $150 million to the general health budget.
As a private institution, however, St Vincent’s Mater Hospital did not receive any of that funding for its new centre.
