January 2021
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Basil Ireland: Up to the challenge
Basil likes a challenge. Be it achieving an operating surplus for five consecutive years, restructuring the revenue function, turning a negative operating cash balance to a positive balance, delivering an end-to-end procurement function, bringing our biomedical services in-house or ensuring stock levels and financial control through the pandemic. Or even joining in an impromptu push-up challenge. See picture below. After five years in his role as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Basil leaves Northern Health to take on yet another challenge as Chief Financial Officer at Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group. Basil was accorded a moving and musical farewell, with…
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Dr Ashni Goshrani: from Kenya to Epping
Growing up in Kenya, Ashni witnessed a struggling and under-resourced healthcare system and how it impacts the lives of people around her. Her love for science, the human body and her desire to help others made her realise early in life she wanted to become a doctor. At the age of just 18, Ashni came to Australia on her own to study, and now calls Australia home. “It was a bit difficult in the beginning and I missed my family. But I met so many friendly and lovely people here and made lots of friends, and those friends became my…
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Northern Pathology Victoria celebrates achievements
This week marked two years of operation for Northern Pathology Victoria (NPV), celebrating becoming a well-established laboratory that has so far processed over 124,389 COVID-19 tests. “I am very proud of the success NPV has had over the last two years in becoming an established laboratory, and especially how we have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said A/Prof. Prahlad Ho, Program Director, Diagnostic Services. Uttam Punj, Operations Manager at Northern Pathology Victoria, agrees, adding that passing accreditation two years in a row was one of the biggest highlights for the team. “As Prahlad said, I am also proud of our…
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How to stay safe in the heat
With temperatures expected to hit 39 degrees today, it’s important to stay safe and hydrated through the day, stay away from direct sun and to be aware of any fire dangers around you. Heat can cause illnesses such as heat cramps and heat exhaustion which can lead to the life-threatening condition, heatstroke which is fatal in up to 80 per cent of cases. Janice Fernandes, Emergency Department Nurse Unit Manager, advises limiting exposure to the sun from 10 am -4 pm, when UV rays are the strongest. “Certain conditions, such as simple as sunburn and as serious as heat stroke,…
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IMG Observer Program: doorway for international doctors
Northern Hospital, Epping is a long way from Kandy, Sri Lanka where Dr Fathima Farook was born and educated. Currently a Hospital Medical Officer (HMO) at Northern Health, she says “Working here, to me, feels like I never left home!” Fathima attributes this as much to the friendly and caring staff as she does to the confidence she gained from the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Observer Program she was fortunate enough to enlist in. Says Fathima, “I was able to take full advantage of the Observer Program to enrich my knowledge and immerse myself in the Australian health system.“ Formally…
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Welcome new 2021 interns!
This week, 45 new junior doctors commenced as medical interns at Northern Health. Dr Wanda Stelmach, Chief Medical Officer, warmly welcomed the interns, saying,”We are delighted to welcome 2021 interns, who commenced orientation this week, and officially start work next week. Some of this group assisted Northern Health during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in areas such as pathology, and helped to conduct audits and work in our call centres, a contribution we value greatly.” Susie Sangas, Medical Education Manager said the interns are very enthusiastic and the team is excited to welcome them, especially face to face.…
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Northern Health Testing Milestones
Following the recent outbreak in NSW and increase in community transmission in Victoria, Northern Health was required to rapidly scale-up our testing capacity over the weekend to help reduce the risks of COVID-19 within our community. “I would like to thank the huge number of staff involved in COVID-19 testing over the New Year’s long weekend. Our Chief Executive, Siva Sivarajah, also extended his appreciation to all staff involved,” said Debra Bourne, Acting Chief Executive. Chief Executive, Siva Sivarajah, visited our three testing sites on Sunday, to personally thank the staff involved. “A big thank you to our nursing, pathology,…