Closing the gap at SALHN

Aboriginal Health Services

SALHN’s Aboriginal Family Clinics are the clinical service delivery arm of the Aboriginal Health Service and provides comprehensive health care in the community, tailored meaningfully for the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumer’s needs.

The Clinic now has three general practitioners, Dr Kali Hayward and Dr Matthew Bourke and Dr Annapurna Nori and also offers access to Traditional Healers (or Ngangkari) to consumers.

Karpa Ngarrattendi 

The Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Unit (Karpa Ngarrattendi) began operating at Flinders Medical Centre in November 1997, and was officially opened and given the traditional Kaurna name Karpa Ngarrattendi in February 1999.

Karpa provides a range of culturally sensitive services including ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, their escorts and family understand medical procedures and hospital routines.

Please contact Karpa Ngarrattendi by calling (08) 8204 6359 or email karpa@.sa.gov.au for more information

SALHN Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan

The SALHN Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2023-2025 reflects our commitment to build on the strong foundations and relationships we have for sustainable, thoughtful, and impactful reconciliation outcomes into the future.

Driven by our purpose of “providing reliable and respectful health care”, our focus for reconciliation is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share the same health outcomes, rights, respect and access to health services, opportunities and benefits as all Australians.

The Reconciliation Action Plan provides a framework to foster these deep connections:

  • Relationships: We have been committed to developing stronger, genuine, and meaningful partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, organisations, and community members, to achieve best health outcomes for individuals, families and communities.
  •  Respect: SALHN is committed to demonstrating a deep respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ and we believe that having a comprehensive understanding of historical factors and how these impacts on the social determinants of health, is an important aspect of introducing new ways of working to better improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Opportunities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, organisations, and communities are vital partners of ours. We will ‘listen, act, make better…together’ with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and stakeholders to progress the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander South Australians.

Thank you to the community for playing such an important role in shaping this plan, and for continuing to be part of our reconciliation journey.

SALHN Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consumer Group

SALHN’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consumer Group was established in February 2019. 

This new consumer group is a very exciting initiative that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to partner with SALHN to form genuine formal partnership and provide a forum for ongoing engagement.

There are 13 Members from both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background who will have a significant role in:

  • Providing advice, feedback and improvement suggestions relating to the healthcare needs and issues of Aboriginal people to enable SALHN to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes for our community.
  • Identifying, promoting and reflecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture within SALHN Buildings and spaces.
  • Providing feedback and input to SALHN on its services, planning and performance in relation to the care and support provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait people.

Tappa Purruna

Tappa Purruna at Flinders Medical Centre is the space between the Rehabilitation Building and the main FMC Building. This particular site was selected to connect the cleansing waters of the nearby creek with the hospital building. 

The underlying theme of Tappa Purruna ‘The Journey of Life’ is symbolic of the cycle of birth, life and death and acknowledges the Kaurna people’s custodianship of the land and their continuing presence, in a place of healing.