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A new era in Community Health services begins

By Josh Barretto • For release on April 1, 2022

FRIDAY 1 APRIL 2022 

Central Bayside Community Health Services, Connect Health & Community and Star Health today announced that they will voluntarily amalgamate following a successful vote at their respective Annual General Meeting last night.

​This decision will see three of inner south, south and southeast Melbourne’s biggest community health organisations come together to form one of the largest community health services in Victoria.

Locals will benefit from increased integrated health and well-being outcomes, broader service delivery and a further coordinated network of community health services in the region. It is expected the new entity will provide access to services to more than 600,000 people across 18 sites, and beyond.

The new amalgamated organisation will build more specialised services in partnership with consumers, community organisations and stakeholders. This will allow the introduction of new services to the catchment area, and expand their offering to communities that do not currently have access to these services.

Clients of the respective services will not notice a change to their service, and there will be a job for anyone currently working for Central Bayside Community Health Services, Connect Health & Community or Star Health that wants to work for the new entity. The voluntary amalgamation will also provide all staff and volunteers with even more opportunity to develop new skills or build upon the ones they already have.

Over the last month, the Boards Chairs and CEOs of all three organisations have been speaking to members, staff, volunteers and the broader community about the voluntary amalgamation and received a positive response to the initial announcement made in late February.

In the coming months, all three organisations will work closely with stakeholders to develop a name for the new entity. A decision on what the new entity will be called is expected before its formal legal establishment in the 2022-23 financial year.

The three organisations will each nominate three directors to form the Board of the new entity. Once this transitional Board has been established it will undertake a process to appoint a CEO and in turn Executive team for the new entity. The CEO appointment, or an interim appointment, will be in place prior to the legal establishment of the new entity.

The three organisations are committed to helping the local community and have been an advocate for social justice for individuals and the communities in which they live for more than 40 years. The voluntarily amalgamated entity will continue that mission with renewed passion and greater ability to achieve a positive social impact.

In addition to the information found on this website stakeholders are invited to contact each organisation’s Information Lines to find out more about the voluntary amalgamation:

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