 The
Department of Health and Community Services exists to provide services that work
together for the health and well-being of our communities: maximising physical
health but also the mental, social and environmental well-being of all Territorians.
With more than 4000 staff and hundreds of programs, we are the largest
- and arguably the most diverse - agency within the Northern Territory Government.
We
provide care throughout the Territory - in hospitals, health and community care
centres and through partnerships with hundreds of non-government organisations.
With modern public hospitals in Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant
Creek and Nhulunbuy, we offer comprehensive general inpatient, outpatient and
emergency services. In addition to these five substantial campuses we also
offer a range of community, oral and public health services from health centres
right across the Territory. Implicit in the name of our Department is the
fact that we care not only for the bodily health of Territorians, but also the
health of the communities in which we all live. We do this through a range of
programs - Family and Children's Services, Aged and Disability, Alcohol and Other
Drugs, and Environmental Health and Disease Control. Our new Office of Aboriginal
Health gives a strategic focus to improving the health status of Aboriginal men,
women and children. Following a comprehensive review of the Department
published early in 2003 we are making very real changes to the way we deliver
our services. We have set a significant reform agenda to ensure that we are financially
accountable, transparent and focused on services that address the most pressing
health and well-being needs of Territorians. In February 2004, Government
released its five year framework for health and community services — Building
Healthier Communities. Using the vision and priorities set out in this
document, the Department has a clear sense of its future directions. We look forward
to working with our clients, communities and peer organisations to plan our business
over the coming years based on this vision.
Dr David Ashbridge
Chief Executive
Officer our organisational structure
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