Green Park Hotel: St Vincent’s Hospital reveals plans for iconic gay Darlinghurst pub to transition into mental health service
It’s been a while since last drinks were called at Darlinghurst’s beloved Green Park Hotel. New plans reveal exactly how St Vincent’s Hospital plans to turn the iconic gay pub into a mental health service
Wentworth Courier
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A cafe which will provide an informal space for mental health care, an art therapy studio and a webinar room – it’s not the Greeny as we knew it but St Vincent’s Hospital has promised our pub will be put to good use.
New plans unveiled by the hospital in a $1.5 million development application before City of Sydney council show how the Darlinghurst site, purchased in late 2020 prior to which it operated as a pub for 127 years, will be transformed.
St Vincent’s will retain the facade of the historic LGBT+ watering hole, which is locally listed as a heritage item as it is a fine specimen of a Federation era public house, with the majority of the works to take place internally.
A St Vincent’s spokeswoman told the Wentworth Courier a timeline for the facility’s opening was not yetconfirmed due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Meanwhile the hospital is ocusing on extensive community consultation with regards to the project.
“St Vincent’s knows the Green Park holds a special place in the hearts of many. St Vincent’s is engaging the local community to ensure local voices are able to contribute to the design and quality improvements and that local community health needs are met,” the spokeswoman said.
“St Vincent’s is conducting a series of focus groups to discuss planning, service design, measurement, and evaluation. Stakeholders include local and LGBTQI+ community groups.”
The spokeswoman said the Green Park site will predominantly be used as an Urban Mental Health Centre.
Service delivery will include: clinical services and counselling, including psycho-social support for those persons that are at risk of experiencing an episode of mental illness or condition is deteriorating; cccess to specialist mental health clinicians on-site; triage and referral to community services, GPs and other support services and GP clinic, or GP supervised nurse practitioner, available for immediate assessment (physical and mental); rotating community pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, dental technicians, podiatrists, CSO staff, home economics educators and peer support workers; access to programs including online, individual and group programs and peer led (staff with lived experience) support groups and follow-up.
“The Safe Haven ‘cafe’ is not a commercial cafe open to general trade. People seeking mental health support will enter the facility via Victoria Street and there will be a ‘triage’ system within the entrance foyer where staff will assess and refer according to needs,” the planning documents read.
“The webinar studio, located at lower ground floor, will provide a permanent, readily available space to be used primarily for the filming of SVHS TV, live webinars and video updates or event content. The studio will provide a professional, convenient space to support patients and staff of St Vincent’s @Green Park.
“The multi-function space will facilitate a Community Creative Arts Health Hub on the ground floor to act as an accessible space for visual art therapy programs, music and memory and other arts health related exhibitions and programs.
“The Transformation Hub on the first floor seeks to house St Vincent’s Innovation and Improvement team to extend the St Vincent’s @Home and virtual and telehealth programs.”
The service will provide an alternative to the often overcrowded St Vincent’s emergency department for people experiencing mental health issues and it aims to support the state government’s Towards Zero initiative to reduce suicide rates by 20 per cent by 2023.
The pub is walking distance to the hospital and in the same vicinity as the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Kinghorn Cancer Centre and Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
The St Vincent’s spokeswoman said there was an incredible need for the service.
“Each year almost 1 in 5 Australians experience mental ill health, with 45 per cent (7.3 million) of Australians aged 16 to 85 experiencing a common mental health disorder, such as depression, anxiety or substance abuse disorders in their lifetime. Based on national prevalence rates, estimates suggest that 20,000 persons in the local catchment area identify themselves as suffering from a mental health disorder within the last 12 months,” she said.
“Mental health is more prevalent in disadvantaged groups and a sizeable proportion of the Darlinghurst local population is characterised by significant socio-economic disadvantage, including high levels of public housing, low income households, and a sizeable population that suffer from homelessness and/or substance abuse.
“People living with mental illness, are at greater risk of experiencing a range of adverse health outcomes and have a lower life expectancy than the general population. Our mental health services are a core part of the organisation’s commitment to providing care to disadvantaged and marginalised members of our community, and providing high quality mental health services is a mission imperative for St Vincent’s.”
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