Barwon Health

For families everywhere, access to high-quality healthcare close to home is essential. Barwon Health provides services that help keeps many parents from travelling additional hours to receive the treatment they need. Thanks to the generosity of the Good Friday Appeal and the The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Barwon Health has been able to enhance paediatric care across the region, ensuring that children from our region receive world-class treatment closer to home. Read more in our latest opinion piece here: https://lnkd.in/gbJAwFgb Photo: Brad Fleet/Herald Sun

Join our passionate occupational therapy team at Barwon Health as an occupational therapist (grade 2). Gain experience working in collaborative multidisciplinary teams across acute (oncology/medical, surgical) and inpatient rehabilitation settings while being supported by expert senior clinicians. Develop your leadership skills in your clinical area, supervising grade 1 occupational therapists, students and allied health assistants. 👉 Multiple full-time & part-time parental leave positions available 👉 Future career opportunities within Barwon Health’s OT team Apply today: https://lnkd.in/gasp5BR6

Join us for an insightful hour of local research dedicated to improving the health of women and children at our community research webinar! 📅 Date: Wednesday 26 March ⏰ Time: 12.30pm – 1.30pm 💻 Format: Zoom webinar (registration required) This FREE webinar will showcase cutting-edge research happening right here in our community, including work aimed at: • Reducing breathing problems in newborns 🍼 • Exploring the impact of maternal diet on child brain development 🧠 • Tackling perinatal depression and anxiety 💭 • Protecting babies from infections like RSV 🤧 🔗 Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/gAcfMW2e

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: Last month we celebrated an exciting milestone in the Barwon Women’s and Children’s project (BWC). On 26 February the Minister for Health Infrastructure, Hon Melissa Horne MP, Christine Couzens MP, Allison Marchant MP, Ella George MP and VHBA Project Executive Director, Lisa Antonio, together with Barwon Health Chief Executive, Frances Diver, launched the construction of the BWC tower at the Myers Street site with a sod-turning event. The next few months of construction will involve earthworks and foundations paving the way for the main Barwon Women’s and Children’s tower. While construction is underway there will be changes to the access to hospital precinct. The community will be notified of these changes ahead of time with key information published on Barwon Health’s Facebook page, website and supported by directional signage. A traffic management plan is in place for the duration of the project for the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and road users. Please remain alert around the construction site. Some important updates for our patients, visitors and staff include: 📌 Maternity entrance relocation: It is important to note that from 22 March, the Myers Street entrance to Maternity Services will close. Maternity patients will be directed to the main entrance of University Hospital Geelong on Bellerine Street. 📌 Gretta Volum Centre (GVC) relocating to Youang Surgery Centre: Services from Gretta Volum Centre will be relocating to the new endoscopy day procedure area at the Youang Surgery Centre from 24 March - 2 April. This will make way for the demolition of the GVC to commence in mid-April. 📌 Looking ahead: We anticipate there will be further disruptions throughout the life of the project and we are working hard to minimise the direct impact on staff and patients. We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing further updates with you. To stay-up-to-date, check the Barwon Women's and Children's website here: https://lnkd.in/gbu5ZCWV

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐛 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝟏𝟓 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 It's a Mob Thing health music festival is partnering with Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Op once again at the new Booln Booln cultural centre! Our teams from Immunisation, Barwon South West Public Health Unit and Healthy Communities will be there offering health information and vaccination. For tickets go to: https://bit.ly/4kuGUiP

Happy International Women’s Day! While there’s still a long way to go in achieving true gender equality, today is a chance to celebrate the achievements of women and reflect on the work still needed. I’m proud to work in an organisation with so many strong female leaders who inspire, lead, and drive change every day. #IWD2025 #EmbraceEquality

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 (𝐈𝐖𝐃) This year's United Nations theme is 'March Forward', highlighting the importance of taking decisive and courageous action to create an equitable world for all women and girls. Under obligations set in the Gender Equality Act 2020, Barwon Health has made progress in achieving workplace gender equality. 👉 Providing Respect@Work training to approx. 400 managers and supervisors. 👉 Providing staff with options to express their pronouns, including a new design of name badges, stickers, activating the pronouns setting in Microsoft Teams and including pronouns in our electronic signatures. 👉 Appointment of Board Chair, The Hon. Lisa Neville You can read more about our plans and progress here: https://lnkd.in/g_mThdb7 In the coming months, we will be evaluating our progress on achieving gender equality at Barwon Health and developing a new Gender Equality Action Plan for 2026-2029.

🏗️ ⚒️ 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 Today Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Corio, the Hon. Richard Marles and Libby Coker, Member for Corangamite, visited Barwon Health to see first-hand the progress of the Barwon Women’s and Children’s. The group also met the project team from the Victorian Health Building Authority and Built. The Federal Government has provided $50 million toward this vital new facility which will deliver much needed and expanded women’s and children’s services in Geelong. The next few months of construction will involve earthworks and foundation works, paving the way for the main Barwon Women’s and Children’s tower. Stay up-to-date on the project here https://lnkd.in/gbu5ZCWV Photo: L-R Ross Walker (Built), The Hon Lisa Neville (Board Chair, Barwon Health), The Hon. Richard Marles MP (Deputy Prime Minister), Libby Coker MP, Frances Diver (CEO, Barwon Health), Rachel O’Keefe, ( Barwon Health), Kate Fatovich, (Victorian Health Building Authority), Sam Majer, (Built).

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 It’s International Women’s Day on 8 March – a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In the lead up to #IWD2025 we’re shining a spotlight on women in leadership positions across Barwon Health. 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 "I am the Barwon South West Director of Health Service Partnerships. I work with the 12 public health services across the Barwon South West region to coordinate efforts to improve health service delivery for our communities. My role is to ensure the delivery of a number of strategic system-wide service priorities. International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women across all fields, whilst also acknowledging the ongoing challenges we face in achieving gender equality. As a mental health nurse, IWD reminds me of the vital role women play in healthcare, not only as providers, but as carers for those in need of support. It's a day to reflect on how we can break down barriers, amplify women's voices and ensure that healthcare is accessible, safe and inclusive. Whilst progress is being made, women still face gender disparities as healthcare consumers and professionals. Women are impacted by challenges tied to gender-based violence, domestic abuse and societal pressures, with these issues often compounded by stigma around seeking help. Many women struggle to balance their professional responsibilities with societal expectations of what their roles at home should be. Tackling these challenges requires collective action, with all genders taking a leadership role in driving meaningful change and creating a more equitable and supportive environment for women in healthcare. My message to aspiring women leaders is to seek mentors you trust, lean on your peers, provide support to others and remember that together we can create a more supportive healthcare environment. By uplifting each other, we can continue to drive positive change and make a lasting impact on the lives of those we care for and work with."

Today is Hospitality Workers in Healthcare Day, giving us the chance to celebrate the vital role hospitality staff play in healthcare settings. At Barwon Health, over 800 Environmental Services staff provide around-the-clock non-clinical support services that keep our organisation ticking along. As a small token of our appreciation for their tremendous contributions, Environmental Services staff were treated to a complimentary coffees and cookies. Pictured: Environmental Services staff at Barwon Health