- Published:
- Friday 19 June 2026 at 9:45 am
The Allan Labor Government is making sure more Victorians living with chronic disease get the care they need.
Minister Shing today announced the expansion of the Care Pathways for Chronic Disease program to a total of 12 locations across Victoria.
Backed by a $20 million investment, the expansion will support an additional 4,500 people living with chronic conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic respiratory illnesses, and asthma.
One third of all hospital admissions are related to chronic conditions – and these patients stay twice as long as others.
The program connects people with teams of skilled clinicians, including chronic disease nurses, health coaches, and allied health clinicians – delivering care in the community, close to home.
The expansion will mean more people can avoid emergency department and hospital admissions.
The program expansion will be fully rolled out by February 2027 to where there is the most need, including:
- Loddon Mallee
- Gippsland
- Northern Metro and Mitchell
- Hume
- Parkville
- Western Metro Melbourne.
- Southern Metro Melbourne
- Barwon
- Bayside
- South West
- Grampians
Delivering care in local communities also saves Victorians time and money.
Evidence from the Health@Home, run by EACH, shows it works – 72 per cent of patients improved their ability to manage their own care.
While Labor is investing in health, Jess Wilson’s Liberals have announced $40 billion worth of cuts.
It will mean cuts to public hospitals, cuts to public healthcare and cuts to the programs and services that Victorians rely on every day.
Only Labor has new solutions to make life easier, safer and more affordable.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Harriet Shing
“Improved access to treatment and care for people living with chronic disease delivers better patient outcomes when it’s local – it’s as simple as that.”
“Access to public healthcare shouldn’t be affected by your postcode or your bank balance.”
“The expansion of these services will reduce hospital admissions and ED visits, and help Victorians to get the care they need, closer to home.”
Quote attributable to Member for Monbulk Daniela De Martino
“This will make it easier and more affordable for locals living with chronic disease to get the care they need.”