Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre

The Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre was created to meet an unmet need: more than ever, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health services in Victoria have reported a significant increase in women presenting with serious mental health issues. Inspired by Cabrini’s core values of respect, integrity and commitment to care for the vulnerable, the Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre is providing a safe haven for women to receive quality, compassionate care.As Australia’s first dedicated women’s only mental health service, the Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre accepted its first patient on 6 September 2021. The development of the service arose out of an increasing awareness and recognition, both clinically and from evidence-based research, that women have specific needs in relation to optimising delivery of care for mental illness. After its first 12 months in operation, the Centre continues to be inundated with increased demand as the service becomes more widely known in the community.Our belief is that women experiencing acute phases of mental illness have an effective response to treatment, higher quality outcomes and better overall wellbeing when they receive treatment in a women’s-only facility, with treatments and programs that are individualised to the needs of women and the characteristics of the illness that is specific to women. Our care is at all times patient-centred, recovery-focused and traumainformed.We have provided inpatient services to over 200 patients to date, with the average length of stay being 11.55 days. Without the Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre service, these women would have had to receive mental health services from mixed gender facilities or in some cases no treatment at all. The Centre has seen women from across the age range, with the average being 40.7 years. Women live across many municipalities, interstate (Perth, NSW) and even one patient from New Zealand.In addition to providing the best possible care, tailored to the needs of women, the Lisa Thurin Women’s Health Centre will conduct and support cutting-edge research in partnership with the Monash University Department of Psychiatry – Central’s HER Centre Australia.Thank you Lisa Thurin and the Gandel Foundation for your extraordinary support and belief in the importance of womens’ health and wellbeing – you have created a safe haven for women to thrive.