#WeAreNorthern
Meet Laura Hughes, Project Manager, Clinical Operations, Northern Health.
Q. Laura, could I start with your coffee order, please?
A. A Magic, a very Melbourne coffee order. Rob from Henry’s Cafe got me onto them.
Q. Tell us about your professional journey at Northern Health.
A. I started at Northern Health as a physiotherapist quite some time ago and have taken a winding path through operational roles in Community and Perioperative Services. I now work in improvement and projects within the Clinical Operations team.
What I loved about being a physio is what I still love about my job now – working with others to improve patient care and achieve positive outcomes. My role is quite varied. Some days I’m in project meetings reviewing action lists, writing reports and analysing data, while other days I’m facilitating workshops or delivering education and training to staff.
Q. If you could describe Northern Health in a sentence, what would it be?
A. Working at Northern Health, to me, means having a “can-do” attitude, everyone is always working together to get things done.
Q. What is your favourite memory since working here?
A. As a long-time Northern Health employee, I’ve really enjoyed seeing the growth of our health service. At times, it can feel relentless when demand is high, things are constantly busy, and we rarely stop to look back at what we’ve achieved.
I feel really proud to be part of an organisation with a continuous improvement focus that never settles. Recently, we held an afternoon tea at the end of a major project to celebrate staff success, and it reminded me that we need to do that more – pause and take stock of how far we’ve come, because I think everyone has a lot to be proud of.
Q. How do you unwind after work?
A. I love the gym – lifting weights and staying strong is something I’m really passionate about. But I also love reality TV, and Real Housewives would have to be a big favourite of mine!
Q. What is something that most people would not know about you?
A. I’m a pretty avid sourdough baker. Most weekends and days off, I’ll be feeding my starter, mixing new loaves, and trying new scoring techniques. I really enjoy the process involved and the fact that each loaf can be an improvement on the last.
Q. Favourite destination to travel and why?
A. I have travelled a lot, especially before children and lived overseas for a few years. But now, my favourite place to go is Ocean Grove. My parents own a property there, so we visit often and have created lots of special memories there.