Acute & Urgent Care
The Urgent Care Centre has highly skilled nursing staff with the ability to make contact with a doctor for urgent medical care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Nursing staff triage the patient on presentation and make an assessment on the severity of their condition and urgency of treatment.
The nurse will undertake a comprehensive assessment and make a decision on making contact with a Doctor onsite or through Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, if there is a need to be seen by a doctor, or have treatment attended by a nurse.
In the absence of an onsite GP, nursing staff are also able to access through the “Victorian Virtual Emergency Department” Northern Health, for less acute presentations but still necessitating medical assessment and treatment.
We also have the ability to contact “Adult Retrieval Victoria” (ARV)– provided by Ambulance Victoria. This is utilised for urgent/high priority presentations. ARV are able to videoconference directly into the urgent care centre and visually assess the patient whilst we undertake physical assessment. Interventions are able to be directed by clinicians whilst transport and bed availability is also being sourced for continuity of care. Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval (PIPER) is accessible with the same technology and support to assit with the stabilisation and transport of paediatrics and infants.
We are fortunate enough to have certain members of our nursing staff trained to perform X-rays of upper and lower extremities. Prior to performing X-rays, a request slip is required. X-rays are digitised and sent directly to BRHS, via picture archiving and communication system (PACS), where they are able to be accessed and reported on by a Radiologist.
Omeo District Health also maintain four acute beds for conditions/presentations that do not require surgery or complex investigation. Beds are often utilised for patients returning from larger facilities that require further home assessment or assistance prior to safe discharge. Our acute beds also enable assessment for admission into Transitional Care, either community or hospital-based, or Aged Care whether that be high or low level care requirements or respite or permanent placement within our Residential Aged Care Home "Lewington House".
