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Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (HHS) covers an area of more than 130,000 square kilometres. The HHS is responsible for the health services of 26,365 people widely spread across Cape York, the Northern Peninsula Area and the Torres Strait Islands.
Sixty four per cent of the population in the region identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. The HHS is one of Australia’s largest providers of health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Services delivered by Torres and Cape HHS include emergency, primary health and acute care, medical imaging, dental, maternity, aged care, allied health, palliative and respite services, and visiting specialist services. The HHS provides a number of services through a mixed model of locally located services and visiting teams including mental health, oral health and BreastScreen. The HHS supports a wide range of healthcare providers including outreach teams and visiting specialist services from other health services and non-government providers such as Apunipima Cape York Health Council and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The HHS comprises 31 primary health care centres, two hospitals (Thursday Island and Bamaga), a multi-purpose health service (Cooktown) and an integrated health service (Weipa). Torres and Cape HHS residents access highly complex care at Townsville or Brisbane; while the majority of all but the most highly complex patients and procedures are managed at Cairns Hospital.
The Torres and Cape HHS also engages with the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine through its Thursday Island Clinical Research and Training Facility. Located adjacent to the Thursday Island Hospital, this facility enables research, training and community engagement in the region. Research in this facility addresses some of the key health challenges facing the region, including infectious and chronic disease and vector-borne diseases, such as Dengue.
(Source: Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service Annual Report 2016 – 2017)
For more information visit the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service website.