It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally arrived at my first stop in the NT: Urapuntja Health Service.
Urapuntja Health Service is one of Australia’s longest running Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and provides services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Utopia and surrounding homelands. They provide a variety of general medical services and programs including general practice, minor surgeries, antenatal and pregancy care including sexual health, family planning and gynaecology, chronic disease management, childhood immunisation, mental and emotional health and men’s health, as well as after hours 24/7 emergency care services. They also provide a range of visiting specialist and allied health providers as available including Cardiology, ENT, Opthamology, Endocrinology, Mental Health including Psychiatry and Mental Health Nursing, Paediatrics, and Physiotherapy and Podiatry.
More recently Urapuntja opened the Purple House, colocated next to the health service, to provide dialysis services for up to 8 patients. This means that patients can live at home in the outstations and travel to the Purple House dialysis facility for treatment.
If you’re an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person living in or around Utopia or surrounding homelands, or if you just want to learn more about providing health services in remote areas, look up Urapuntja through their website: https://www.urapuntja.org.au/
I’m southward bound heading towards Alice Springs where I’ve got a lot of stops to make!
