Media Release

Hunter communities to benefit from new mental health facility

06 October 2023

​The NSW Gov​​e​rnment will deliver a new mental health facility on the new Maitland Hospital campus at Metford to provide enhanced specialised mental health support for adults in the Hunter Region.

​Early planning for the new facility is now underway with the design to be informed by extensive consultation, including staff, carers, and people with lived experience of mental health.

The aim is to ensure the new facility is designed with people front and centre and reflect the needs of the people who use them.

The modern, purpose-built facility will offer a transitional model of mental health care and include general and forensic mental health services. The investment will improve service integration with the Maitland Hospital, to provide better wrap around support for people seeking treatment for mental and physical health issues.

As part of the project, some services currently located at the Morisset Hospital campus will be relocated to the new Maitland Mental Health facility.

The project is being delivered as part of the NSW Government’s $700 million Statewide Mental Health Infrastructure Program, an initiative designed to support mental health care reform across the state.

​For more information about the project visit The Maitland Mental Health project​.​​

Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson said:

The new facility will change the way we deliver mental health services in the Hunter region and ensure local communities continue to have access to world-class mental health care now and into the future.

“We want to ensure we are getting it right from the start and that’s why extensive consultation, including people with a lived experience and carers, will be vital in ensuring the new mental health facility meets the needs of the community.

“The investment will improve the future capacity of our mental health system and ensure the most vulnerable members of our community can be treated in an environment that best supports their journey to recovery.

Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley said:

“The Maitland Mental Health facility will help provide accessible and expert care to people across our region.

“This is a valuable investment and one I hope will make a big difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable.”

Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison said:

“The Maitland Mental Health project is a major opportunity for our region to provide integrated and holistic health care.

“With the service being located on the new Maitland Hospital campus, it will mean that consumers have timely and coordinated access to other health and clinical care and specialists and health services they may need.”