Joining together to support and improve the health and wellbeing of the Wollondilly community, the Wollondilly Health Alliance has been re-launched with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The Alliance is a formal partnership between Wollondilly Shire Council, South Western Sydney Local Health District and South Western Sydney Primary Health Network. It was initially formed in March 2014 to connect services and improve health outcomes for the community.

Following a review of the previous governance structure and focus areas, the refreshed Wollondilly Health Alliance aims to apply a fresh and coordinated approach to meeting the diverse health and wellbeing needs of people in the Wollondilly Shire.

The new priorities for the Wollondilly Health Alliance over the period of the MoU include:

• Carrying out a health needs assessment for the growing Wollondilly community to support planning and advocacy for future health services.
• Strengthening access to, and availability of, an integrated network of health services across the Wollondilly Shire including telemedicine.
• Continue to embed the principles of health and wellbeing into Council’s daily operations through joint training initiatives.
• Increasing awareness about the impacts that disasters have on health and wellbeing and how communities can better prepare themselves.

Wollondilly Mayor Matt Gould said, “The Wollondilly Shire will face significant challenges over the next few years due to our growing population.”

“We will continue to strongly advocate for the health services we need for our current and future communities.”

“I look forward to working collaboratively through the Wollondilly Health Alliance to improve health outcomes for all our community members.”

Sonia Marshall, Chief Executive of South Western Sydney Local Health District, said the Alliance will draw on each partner’s strengths. 

“By working together and sharing our expertise, skills and resources, the Alliance has the potential to achieve greater outcomes collectively,” she said.

“We will deliver projects aimed at improving social connection and health access for the community, including trialling innovative approaches to shape the health care of the future.”

Dr Keith McDonald PhD, Chief Executive Officer of South Western Sydney Primary Health Network, said the new MOU reflected the Alliance’s evolution into a more results-oriented partnership.

“With the Wilton and Appin expansions, the population of Wollondilly is set to triple in the next 30 years,” he said.

“The Alliance is focused on identifying what health services are needed to support this growing population, and ultimately, what we need to do to improve the health and wellbeing of Wollondilly residents.

“The Alliance will be looking to better coordinate our preparedness for, and response to natural disasters, and to improve how virtual technologies are used to ensure local health services are working smarter, not harder.

“The new Alliance structure allows us to build on the solid foundation of work undertaken during the past decade.”