Health Equity Program (St Vincent's Health Australia): The Health Equity Program of St Vincent’s was established in 2015 as an organisation-wide strategic and financial commitment to equity, through the support of research, clinical innovation, advocacy, and service reform. This program is Implemented across all SVHA sites (10 hospitals, 20+ aged care facilities), as an active investment in St Vincent’s organisational mission to provide better and fairer care for all, particularly those at risk of poor health. The Health Equity program provides award funding and strategic support for projects across the St Vincent’s enterprise that aim to reduce barriers to care and improve health equity. 

• Equity audit tools applied in over 30 departments. 
• Distributed >$35 million to support >270 projects since 2015. 
• Administer annual award funding across the St Vincent’s enterprise. In 2024, this saw a commitment of $1.1 million to support 14 new health and aged care projects.

Some of these projects are included below. Further details can be found at Projects | St Vincent's Health Australia.  

Better Health and Housing is a medical respite unit for people discharged from hospital into homelessness. The program emerged from a COVID-isolation response, developing into a supported integrated care residential facility for clients with chronic homelessness and co-occurring chronic health conditions. This program is a partnership between St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Launch Housing, and it delivers intensive coordinated support for clients at Sumner House, providing ongoing medical care and help across various areas to stabilise their lives. Since its commencement in August 2022:

• 71 clients have participated in the program, staying for an average of 138 days.
• The program has achieved strong housing outcomes, with 91% of clients with planned exits securing housing.
• There has been a substantial reduction in presentations to the Emergency Department, with a 40% reduction in the number of clients presenting to ED across the whole client cohort.
• The program has also shown significant improvements in the utilisation of community mental health services and reduced utilisation of the homelessness system.
• Resolution of health conditions – with more than a quarter of clients resolving a health condition while residing at BHHP.
• Considerable and sustained improvements to the management of health conditions – with a 50% increase in the number of health conditions being actively managed from entry to exit.
• Significant enhancements in subjective wellbeing across all measured domains – with all domains of the Personal Wellbeing Index showing a statistically significant change in subjective wellbeing scores from entry to exit.
• Strong housing outcomes – 91% of clients with planned exits secured housing, and 54% of all clients achieved a housing outcome, a significant achievement for the complex cohort. Housing attainment is higher for First Nations clients, at 64% across all exits.
• Substantial reduction in presentations to the Emergency Department - with a 40% reduction in the number of clients presenting to ED across the whole client cohort and a 76% reduction in ED usage for those with a planned exit (comparing six months pre to six months post program data).
• Improvements in the utilisation of community mental health services – with clients experiencing a planned exit showing high levels of linkage and engagement with mental health services during the program and sustaining this involvement after exit.
• Reduced utilisation of the homelessness system - with instances of crisis-driven homelessness support services provided by Launch more than halving.
• Strong indication of reduced pressure on justice and other systems - including considerable engagement with legal supports, amongst others.

More detail about Better Health and Housing can be found here.  

The Cooling Hubs program involves the deployment of mobile cooling hubs in Sydney to prevent heat-related injuries among people experiencing homelessness. These hubs provide essential services such as healthcare, food, water, and access to cooling technology during extreme heat events. The initiative is a collaborative effort between St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, the City of Sydney Council, and academic partners. The hubs are deployed in various locations during temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius. Since 2024;

• Seven mobile cooling hubs have been deployed
• Hundreds of people experiencing homelessness have accessed the hubs.
• Preliminary data indicate prevention of heat-related presentations to hospital Emergency departments.

More detail about cooling hubs can be found here and here.  

Tierney House is a 12-bed residential unit providing short-term transitional accommodation for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness who need health support. It offers a safe and stable environment where residents can access health assessments, treatments, and referrals to accommodation and support services. The facility is staffed 24/7 by Residential Support Workers and aims to reduce hospital admissions and emergency department presentations. Reduced emergency department presentations by 7.8% per month.

• Reduced hospital admissions by 8.6% compared to other homeless individuals. 
• Average hospital length of stay reduced by 3.5 days per admission. 
• Net cost-benefit to NSW taxpayers of $8,276 per client.

More detail about Tierney House can be found here and here.   

• Social Housing (St Vincent's Care Services): Social housing options at Arundel and Enoggera and low-cost rental units for rural patients at Toowoomba. Further information can be found here. 
• Emanuel City Mission Service (St Vincent's Care Services): Financially supports Emanuel City Mission service and funds a registered nurse for the program. Further information can be found here. 
• CHOPS (Clarendon Homeless Outreach Psychiatric Service) (St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne): A specialist homelessness outreach service of St Vincent’s Melbourne’s Mental Health, specifically designed to work with people with mental illness who are homeless or in tenuous housing. The CHOPS team has a total case load of 40 clients at any given time and is multidisciplinary comprising nurses, occupational therapists and social workers. The team provide assertive and flexible outreach including opportunistic “check ins” with clients if they are seen on the street and locating clients who have temporarily moved out of the CHOPS catchment area which is largely the cities of Yarra and Boroondara. More information can be found here.
• Research on Mortality and Homelessness (St Vincent’s Health Australia): There has also been research on the cumulative risk of premature mortality and homelessness conducted by SVHA. More information can be found here and here.
• Research on Emergency Presentations (St Vincent's Health Australia): Research on ED visits linked to homelessness and mental health. There has been a 99% increase in homelessness-related ED visits in Melbourne (2015–23) and 72% increase in Sydney. More information can be found here.
• Homeless Health Access to Care Tool (HHACT) (St Vincent's Health Australia): Digital tool for identifying barriers to care among homeless ED patients. Trialled in St Vincent’s clinical settings, See publications here.
• Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) (St Vincent's Hospital Network Sydney): Provides health assessment, treatment, referral, and care coordination for people experiencing homelessness. Works in partnership with local services. More detail can be found here.
• Sydney Homeless Health service: As well as the HOT team, the Sydney Homeless Health service also has other teams:  Assertive Outreach Team, After Hours Primary Health Care team, Community Access and Assessment Team. More detail can be found here.
• Mobile Podiatry - Taking footcare to the streets (St Vincent's Hospital Network Sydney): Dedicated podiatry care for vulnerable people via mobile health outreach service. Weekly walk-in clinic at the campus. Information about podiatry service available here. 
• The Cottage (St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne): The Cottage is a home like environment where Hospital in the Home (HITH) services are provided to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The aim of HITH is to provide hospital like care to patients at home as an alternative to staying in hospital. At the Cottage, HITH services are provided by St Vincent’s At Home. The Cottage is a small terrace house with 6 beds. Staff include nurses, allied health, psychosocial and personal care workers who provide Hospital In the Home (HITH) services and assist clients to self-manage their medication and daily care where appropriate.  More information can be found here. 
• Cana Communities Support (St Vincent's Private Hospitals): Primary care nurse one day per week funded by Mater, laundry services by Darlinghurst. Further information can be found here. 
• Meals on Wheels (St Vincent's Private Hospitals): St Vincent’s Private Community Hospital Griffith provides meals on wheels 365 days per year. Further information can be found here. 
• End Street Sleeping Collaboration (St Vincent's Hospital Network Sydney): St Vincent’s is a member of the End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC); a unique cross-sector partnership of leading homelessness organisations in New South Wales. Partnered with Microsoft to develop the 'By Name List' data base. More information can be found here.
• Support for Mercy Foundation (St Vincent's Private Hospitals): Mater Hospital contributes donations to the Mercy Foundation. The Mercy Foundation provides grants for social justice and community initiatives, with a focus on ending homelessness. Further information can be found here. 

The Outreach Heart Failure Diagnostic Clinic provides early screening and diagnosis of heart conditions for First Nations patients in rural NSW. The clinic travels around the NSW Riverina on a monthly rotation, offering specialized cardiac care and using state-of-the-art telehealth capabilities. This initiative aims to alleviate the stress, time, and costs associated with traveling to Sydney for specialist care, and enhances telehealth capabilities with real-time ultrasound imaging. Please see article here.

This program supports the North Stradbroke Island Aboriginal & Islanders Housing Co-operative Society, including the Moopi Moopi Residential Aged Care. It provides refuge and support for Indigenous residents, especially during emergencies like cyclones. The program has been instrumental in offering advice, education, recruitment, and equipment to the community for 13 years. During Cyclone Alfred, St Vincent’s Care services evacuated 11 Indigenous residents. More information can be found here, here and here. 

This advocacy campaign led by St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne calls for more humane treatment of palliative care patients in custody. It aims to end the practice of shackling prisoners during end-of-life care. The campaign has garnered national media attention and aims to influence policies across various states and territories. Journal publication can be accessed here.

St Vincent’s works with Parklea Correctional Centre to provide comprehensive healthcare services to incarcerated individuals, including inpatient admissions, mental health assessments, and community outreach health services post-release. The program aims to improve health outcomes and support the transition from custody to community. St Vincent’s also offers in-reach palliative care services to Long Bay Hospital. More information can be found here. 

Open Support is a not-for-profit charitable organisation established and run within St Vincent’s Clinic, Sydney. Open Support run supportive programs  to assist women and children escaping domestic and family violence and people experiencing social isolation. The Domestic and Family Violence Program provides residential support, case management, and specialized services to support women and children experiencing domestic and family violence, and specialises in providing support for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. This program supported 93 women and children in 2023, and all except one woman did not return to their perpetrator. More information can be found here, here and here.  

An eight-bed inpatient unit established to provide high acuity inpatient care for people presenting to hospital in crisis experiencing alcohol and other drug intoxication or behavioural disturbance, together with co-existing medical, drug and alcohol, toxicological and/or mental health issues. Services an average of >120 patients per month (totalling >10,000 episodes of care delivered since the unit opened in Nov 2020). Behavioural disturbances that required restraint reduced from a monthly median of 20 to 12 episodes in the first 6 months of the unit's operation. More information can be found here, here and here.  

Open Support - Community Connections program (St Vincent's Private Hospitals): Open Support is a service within St Vincent’s Clinic in Sydney. It delivers a comprehensive, case management program to provide social navigation support and social capacity building for people experiencing social isolation and loneliness. Supported 153 vulnerable community members in 2023. More information can be found here.