General News
5 October, 2022
Board meets
A SMALL but enthusiastic community contingent gathered last Tuesday evening to observe the Terang and Mortlake Health Service (TMHS) open access board meeting.
A SMALL but enthusiastic community contingent gathered last Tuesday evening to observe the Terang and Mortlake Health Service (TMHS) open access board meeting.
Terang and Mortlake board chair Ben Dennis took the opportunity to introduce two new board directors to the community.
John Parker, a local small business owner who specialises in the provision of IT systems, and associate professor Afaf Haddad, an anatomical pathologist, were welcomed.
Both directors indicated how pleased they were to be focussing on rural health outcomes.
The meeting also heard from Allison Buccheri, a speech pathologist employed by TMHS.
Ms Buccheri is also employed as a regional research assistant through Colac Area Health.
She presented on the successful research application to be rolled out in the Barwon South West region.
The project, the COVID-19 and Regional Health Staff Wellbeing – Accessibility of Supports (also known as CReW-Ace), will focus on monitoring the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees of public health services now and into the future.
Ms Buccheri highlighted the importance of taking research opportunities when presented in the rural context and how this may translate into future rural research opportunities.
The highlight of the evening was the launch of the Terang and Mortlake Health Service Strategic Plan, which was presented by the executive team.
TMHS chief executive officer Julia Ogdin said the plan had been the culmination of over two years of planning, resulting in a document which “would guide the strategic direction over the next four years”.
Ms Ogdin highlighted the role regional relationships would play in the organisation’s strategic direction.
“We are encouraged to look outwards and adopt a collaborative mindset with our regional partners in order to promote both our internal interests and those of our greater community,” she said.
“The plan highlighted the strategic priorities to be worked on during the four year period.
“This includes TMHS being positioned as a provider of exceptional care, a great place to work, a leading rural provider and a partner to improve people’s health.”