West Wimmera Health Service

💫 Up to Standard! 👏 Our health service has been awarded three years accreditation by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, with no recommendations for improvement — a rare feat for any health service across Australia. 🙌 From 8 – 12 July, our hospital and community health services were independently assessed against the many and varied elements of each of the eight National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. As part of their in depth review the assessors spoke with staff, managers, patients, community representatives, and board directors. They praised our efforts across all aspects of our operations, including direct care, food services, maintenance, governance, employee support, administration, consumer engagement and our healthy organisational culture. They were especially impressed with our responsiveness to their queries and suggestions. A huge thank you and congratulations to the many people involved in this outcome. It is due recognition of the skill, compassion and dedication our staff bring to work each and every day. ✨

WE DID IT! 💗 The month of June saw our staff open their pockets and don pink coloured shirts, all in aid of raising valuable funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Staff across all WWHS sites made a monetary donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation in exchange for wearing a pink shirt during any shift. The WWHS leadership team even got involved, committing to dyeing their hair pink if total funds raised exceeded $3,000, which saw staff members dig deep and be particularly generous with their donations! Thanks to the incredible support of the community and staff, together they successfully raised more than $3,804 for the wonderful cause. Thank you to all who donated and supported this cause!

😃 👏 Congratulations to our latest Employees of the Month...Kristine Laverty (Health Care Worker) and Sandra Decker (Ward Clerk - Iona, Nhill) Here's what their fellow employees had to say about them: "Kristine has a great rapport with residents and staff in Iona. A great team player who is always very supportive to other staff. Kristine takes initiative and is a great example of commitment and leadership to the role and Service." "Sandra demonstrates commitment and motivation for her role as Ward Clerk beyond expectation. A hard working, helpful, positive and supportive employee, Sandra will always ensure a consistent approach to the care of the residents." How lucky are we to have them on our team! 🙌

Our most recent Employee of the Month is none other than the wonderful Margaret Frew, a General Services Assistant at our Rainbow Hospital! With almost 37 years of service, it's no doubt she's dedicated to her role. She consistently gives 100%, and is the first person to put her hand up to fill in shifts on our roster - a true team player. Her work ethic is certainly one to admire. Congratulations Margaret, and thank you again for your enormous and ongoing efforts, we truly appreciate you! 😃

Our very own Sreejith (Jay) Sreekumar, Social Worker, has been highlighted in an article by Monash University, focusing on social work graduates making an impact in rural communities! 😃 Check out the article here: https://lnkd.in/g3_iM7Qz We appreciate Jay's dedication to his work and the impact he's made in the lives of those around him. We're incredibly proud to have him as part of our team, making a real difference every day. 🤗

We're thrilled with the positive feedback coming through from participants of our intergenerational program! The program is delivered across our Jeparit, Rainbow and Natimuk sites, and brings together our aged care residents, social support groups and local school students to enrich the health and wellbeing of both young and old alike. Together they engage in activities and outings to build emotional connections and friendships between generations. So far they've participated in museum visits, music therapy with floor drums and tambourines, gentle exercises, bowling, held snakes and patted dingoes in mobile zoo visits and have shared many conversations, meals, laughs and smiles! The program has been funded by the Western Victoria Primary Health Network.

Congratulations to Darren Jeffery and Justine Stephens on being awarded our most recent Employees of the Month! Darren, our Contracts and Procurement Officer, is an approachable employee with incredible commitment to the role. He is always assisting and contributing to the needs of other departments to ensure services and projects run seamlessly and has created structure, processes and education around contracts and procurement to benefit all. Justine, a leader in our clinical division, consistently demonstrates commitment and leadership. Committed to improving her skills and knowledge in the clinical space, Justine has greatly contributed to the improvement of the division by ensuring our customers receive seamless, effective, and efficient services.

Proud to have Hindmarsh Shire Council's newest Citizen of the Year Rhys Webb on our team as our Executive Director Community Health. 😃 Congratulations and thank you for all that you do to support our community, Rhys! 👏 Read more about this wonderful human and his outstanding achievements on the Shire's website: https://lnkd.in/grhA73zP

We’re sorry to bid farewell to Alex Hall, our Executive Director of Community Health. In Alex’s most recent stint with us (5 years), she served with distinction and essentially rebuilt the Community Health Division to what it is today. She contributed to implementing CHSP (Commonwealth Home Support Program) and developed the community model of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. She led and expanded the community packages team to enable us to provide care for more people out in the community, and in their homes, where they prefer to be. A strong advocate for Maternal and Child Health Services, Alex was instrumental in creating the Hindmarsh Day Stay Positive Parenting Centre in Nhill, offering parenting support to those with babies and young children. Alex’s leadership saw the introduction of skin check clinics and the transformation of our Health Promotion team as it went from traditional methods to modern community centred approaches. We wish her well in her new role and coastal lifestyle – we’re only a tiny bit envious!

Please join us at our AGM on Thursday 30 November at 11am 😊 ✨ Come along to Nhill Hospital or join via Zoom. Hope to see you!