Construction Work is progressing on the Gold Coast’s first Secure Mental Health Rehab Unit (SMHRU), with the first Metro South Health Consumers expected to transition to the facility in early 2025.
The 40-bed Secure Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit (SMHRU) is designed for patients 18 years and over with severe and complex mental health disorders and will be shared by consumers of both Metro South and Gold Coast hospital and health services.
The facility will provide a home-like environment for patients and will boost the number of mental health rehabilitation places in South-East Queensland.
Stakeholders, clinicians and those with lived experience have been involved in the design of the facility to ensure the units are fit-for purpose, with future consumers front of mind.
The facility will consist of a mix of single, wheelchair accessible and bariatric rooms, all purposefully designed to keep consumers experiencing mental illness safe while helping them achieve self-sustaining outcomes.
The SMHRU project team said by fostering an environment that enhanced life skills, patients would be equipped with the tools to build resilience for when they returned to their everyday lives.
Recruitment for the facility began this month.