mmg.com.au

It has been a busy year for Cobram District Health, dealing with floods, purchasing and upgrading existing equipment and training new doctors.

The local healthcare provider has released its annual Quality of Care report and a flick through reveals some encouraging advancements to the level of care provided.

Evasive action was required when flooding inundated Numurkah Hospital in March last year.

Twelve people — a mix of patients and elderly residential care residents — had to be relocated to Cobram at this time.

Irvin House hosted four residents from Numurkah Aged Care Facility for a month, and a number of Numurkah Hospital staff members also worked at Cobram.

The floods also meant that operating sessions that were scheduled at Numurkah were performed at Cobram instead, and a total of 70 procedures were performed from April until the end of June.

The GP Enhanced Primary Care program helped many low-income and disability pensioners to improve their quality of life by having free access to podiatry, diabetic education and dental care.

Under normal circumstances, many of these people would not be able to afford such health services — but with the appropriate referral through their GP, regular dental checks and essential dental procedures can be covered.

As an aside, Cobram Dental Clinic treated more than 5000 private patients last year.

Further advancements have been made with the popular Midwife Shared Care Program at Cobram, with women receiving pre- and post-birth care.

The program pairs mothers and their newborns with the same midwife right the way through and also allows for locally-based antenatal care, which is especially beneficial for those with other young children in their care.

The most common reason for people being admitted to Cobram Hospital in 2012 was for respiratory conditions (20 per cent), followed by cellulitis (12 per cent) and orthopaedic conditions (11 per cent).