Ballan District Health & Care – located between Melbourne and Ballarat along the Western Highway – is a rural healthcare provider to the residents of Ballan and surrounding Districts. Employing more than 180 people and supported by more than 80 volunteers, Ballan District Health & Care provides an integrated single-site model of care: offering primary healthcare, hospital care, aged care, rehabilitation services, welfare and wellness services, and childcare. Ballan District Health & Care commenced operations in 1966 as a six-bed Soldiers’ Memorial Bush Nursing Hospital. The hospital opening represented a significant community achievement. Many local people had made the Ballan Hospital their life’s work. Ballan District Health & Care remains a Soldiers’ Memorial Bush Nursing Hospital, is owned by the community through the Ballan Hospital Association and is a registered charity. Many local people, including staff members and volunteers, continue to make the organisation their life’s work: to the benefit of the people of Ballan and surrounding Districts.