About the Far West LHD

Here at Far West Local Health District, we have a clear mandate. And that is to provide the highest quality care and services to our communities using the latest clinical evidence and technological enablers.

Our vision is to create excellence in rural and remote healthcare. Everything we do is underpinned by our CORE values of collaboration, openness, respect and empowerment. Key to our success of course, is our people. Our workforce is inclusive and diverse. We employ well over 800 clinicians and support staff and visiting specialists from around Australia. We are in fact, one of the largest employers in our region. Our staff are connected to their communities which drives us to go the extra mile in providing a high-quality service.

One of our highest priorities is to deliver patient-centred care. We train all of our staff so that we have the right staff delivering the right care at the right time. From the porters to the cleaners to the nurses to the doctors. It’s our core business to keep patients safe and when they’re transferred home that they have the appropriate referrals and they’re looked after in their own home. 

We are the second largest LHD by geography. We cover some 200,000 square kilometres. Our population is just over 30,000 and are serviced by 9 facilities. 7 public health facilities and 2 multi purpose services.

The iconic, nationally heritage listed town of Broken Hill makes up our central hub and is home to the largest hospital in the region.

If you’re travelling out to Broken Hill it might seem a long way but when you get here you realise it’s an oasis in the outback. It’s a place that’s friendly, it’s a place that as you walk down the street people say hello and it’s a place that when people come they want to stay.

Outside of Broken Hill, our 8 district health facilities are based in Balranald, Buronga, Ivanhoe, Menindee, Tibooburra, Wentworth, White Cliffs and Wilcannia. 

In most of our facilities we’re working in small communities, anything from a hundred person town up to about a sixteen hundred person town, so you really connect with the community, you get to understand the needs in the community and work closely with community members to help them manage their health and their family’s health short term and long term.

Our commitment to our community is unwavering in that we want to provide the best possible care.

Far West really is a unique place to live and work. From the spectacular red desert landscapes of the Aussie outback on the one hand, to the lush, greenery of our lower western sector. 

Here in the far west we have one of the largest Aboriginal populations in New South Wales. 13 per cent of our community members are Aboriginal. So in the Far West Local Health District we are doing a number of things to ensure that we are caring for the health needs and the cultural needs of our community members.

Planning for here and now and for the future needs of our communities is at the heart of our regional strategy. We cannot do the work that we do without our key partnerships. We work very closely with our service partners such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Aboriginal Health Services Maari Ma and Coomealla Health, Primary Health Network and various NGO’s scattered throughout the region.

Here in Fast West we work together to make a real difference to the lives of our communities.

We are committed to doing everything that we can to achieving better health outcomes for our communities and in partnership with our communities.

Our togetherness is our strength.