Telstra to replace IT systems in 13 Victorian healthcare sites

Telstra has signed a $1.6 million contract to replace IT systems in 13 Peninsula Health hospital and healthcare sites in Victoria.

The work for Peninsula Health, described by Telstra as a major public health service for Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula, aims to help improve patient outcomes and experiences. It is scheduled to be completed by mid-to-late 2024.

The technology and connectivity upgrade includes Cisco SDWAN, faster internet services and simplify existing contracts and processes helping to drive cost efficiencies.

Telstra aims to quadruple bandwidth across the network and enables local sites to operate independently and uninterrupted in the event of an outage at headquarters, it stated in an announcement.

John Ieraci, Telstra Enterprise Group Owner for Defence & Public Sector, stated: “Instead of operating across old IT networks that didn’t talk to each other, our solution will connect all four hospitals across the region, moving to a more efficient online-only system that will enable Peninsula Health staff and our patients to connect securely to the internet services they want and need.”

“The impact for a hospital or health service if there is a power outage or local disruption can be particularly dire which is why the program of works will also be including more redundancy to help ensure the system is as resilient as possible,” Ieraci said.

David English, Peninsula Health Executive Director Digital Health & Informatics called the project “a game changer in how our staff will be able to work with faster, more agile systems as well as our patients and their loved ones who will be benefit from the greater connectivity and guest internet across all of our sites.”