2019 Annual General Meeting and Open Access Board Meeting

November 28, 2019

The 2019 Annual General Meeting and Open Access Board Meeting held this afternoon was well attended with representation from consumers, community members and Aboriginal Elders.

This event provides an opportunity for the board and senior leadership team to engage with staff and consumers and showcase many of the initiatives and collaborations we have undertaken in the past 12 months.

Jennifer Williams AM, Board Chair, welcomed attendees and shared some of the quality and improvement initiatives over the last year. She also thanked staff, volunteers, students, Board Directors, Northern Health Foundation supporters and partners, whose contributions have helped us provide outstanding care for our community.

Chief Executive, Siva Sivarajah, reported that Northern Health received more than 107,000 emergency presentations in the last financial year, making it once again the busiest Emergency Department in Victoria. In addition, he highlighted that we admitted 98,193 patients to hospital, performed 10,385 elective surgeries, and saw 232,496 outpatients in our specialist clinics.

The Annual General Meeting also included the awarding of the inaugural 2019 Staff Achievement Awards.

The Annual Clinical Excellence Award was presented to Thi Nguyen, Nurse Unit Manager, Ward 4 (Unit B) and the 2019 Annual Staff Excellence Award recognised the Library Service. Congratulations to the deserving recipients!

The Open Access Board Meeting saw the launch of Northern Health’s 2019-21 Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, known as the RAP.

“This is Northern Health’s first ever RAP, and is a ground breaking plan which demonstrates our commitment to the Aboriginal community of the north,” said Ms Williams.

It was a special day for The Aboriginal Support Unit, as along with the launch of the RAP , they also presented the new name and identity of their unit. Karen Bryant, Senior Aboriginal Liaison Officer, explained Narrun Wilip-Giin was a Woiwurrung name that meant ‘Spirit Keepers’. She said it had “special significance to the Aboriginal Support Unit who work to keep the spirits up of our people in their health journey.”

The Open Access Board Meeting ended with a lively discussion on how we can better engage consumers in our health service, led by Chief Allied Health Officer, Briana Baass, and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Simon Keating.