Summit Universal Health Update

After much thought and consideration and with disappointment, today we are announcing our decision to close Summit Universal Health.

Summit Universal Health was a partnership between Summit Health Centre and Community Bridging Services (CBS) Inc., with the two not for profits having collectively provided health care and disability services in the Adelaide Hills. The two organisations came together to build a unique health centre in the Aston Hills development at Mount Barker with an unwavering commitment to applying Universal Design across the build and operational environments. The facility would have been an Australian first, ensuring access and inclusion for all, improving health outcomes and delivering social benefits for the whole community.

Unfortunately, the impact from rising interest rates coupled with continuous increases in building costs has meant that we can no longer afford to deliver the facility. We have spoken with various Government representatives who, whilst remaining supportive of our project, are unable to commit to offering the financial support required.

After two years of working diligently towards achieving our goal, we are extremely disappointed with this outcome. However, we have been most grateful for the support and level of interest we have received over the journey from both community members and healthcare providers.

Freddie Brincat OAM, Founder and Executive Director of CBS Inc. said “A quality multipurpose architectural wellbeing service, designed to support a growing and diverse community requires resources that encourage physical and social access, a good plan that we have not been able to achieve after much investment in time and resources. The removal of Mount Barker from The Federal Building Better Regions grant eligibility was the final pain point where I could not see that our continued investment had a likely chance of ever being successful into the foreseeable future. I hope that future projects can be achieved by others with a firm commitment to access, equity, quality and universal design.”

Kevin Wisdom-Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Summit Health added “It’s a very disappointing outcome given the extensive work that has gone into getting us where we are, but external circumstances seemed to have conspired against us. CBS Inc. and Summit Health took a brave approach to do something innovative and in the community’s best interests. That it hasn’t come to fruition is sad for everyone who could have benefited; at least we have created more dialogue around bringing primary care and disability services closer together.”

If you would like to find out more information about our decision to close, please contact Freddie Brincat at or on (08) 8224 2900