August 12, 2025This morning, Northern Health hosted the Bi-Annual Awards, virtually coming together to honour the exceptional contributions of our staff.
The ceremony was hosted by Debra Bourne, Chief Executive, Northern Health, and Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director, People and Culture, who presented our award winners.
“Northern Health has thousands of staff who work across a range of areas, departments and sites, dedicated to providing outstanding care to our community each and every day,” said Debra Bourne, Chief Executive.
“Among our award winners today are staff who demonstrate a strong and positive workplace culture, live Northern Health’s values of safe, kind and together, and show a genuine commitment to their patients.”
The ceremony celebrated winners from January 2025 – June 2025 in seven categories, with each award matched against Northern Health’s values and strategic priorities.
“I am delighted to be here today to celebrate and award the staff who demonstrate excellence in their care and work at Northern Health,” said Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director, People and Culture.
“I feel proud to work in an organisation where staff are collaborative and kind and turn up to work every day to provide such incredible care to our patients and community – we thank you all for your hard work.”
Russell Hodgson, General Surgeon (Consultant), won the Innovation Award. Russell was nominated by Yuchen Luo.
“Russell has been tremendously supportive and helpful for his unaccredited surgical registrars in achieving research goals in preparation for surgical training application,” Yuchen said in their nomination
“He has now started an innovative project focusing on video-based assessment of laparoscopic surgery, in collaboration with the RMIT artificial intelligence lab aiming to automate assessment using the new technology of computer vision.”
Ali Ghosn, HMO Intern, was awarded the Patient Experience and Rising Star awards. Ali received multiple nominations across the two categories, with many praising his kindness and compassion to patients, and his proactive attitude towards learning and continuous improvement.
The Excellence in Leadership Award went to Max Lynch, Team Leader – Hume and Merribek Community Teams. Max received three nominations from his colleagues. Max was praised for being an outstanding team leader, listening to individual needs, having a ‘can do’ attitude and leading with inspiration and motivation.
The winner of the Education Award was the Allied Health Early Career Program. The team was nominated by Erin Joubert.
“Over the past 24 months, a dedicated team of allied health educators have demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in embedding and adapting an established education program to support early career clinicians within a tertiary public mental health service,” Erin said in her nomination.
“Their efforts resulted in a record number of early career clinicians receiving structured support during their transition into the workforce. Their impact is evident in improved workforce capability, increased clinician retention, and enhanced care delivery for consumers.”
Michelle Ferry, Relationship Manager at BankVic, presented the last two categories – Clinical Excellence and Excellence in Safety.
The Pain Nursing Team was presented with the Clinical Excellence Award. The team was nominated by Jake Geertsema.
“The team consistently go above and beyond their clinical duties. Their collaborative and patient-centred approach ensures that every patient receives empathetic, high-quality care. They are known for taking the time to listen, build trust, and tailor care plans to individual needs—transforming the experience of countless patients across the hospital,” Jake said in his nomination.
Melina Puddicombe, Registered Nurse, Associate Nurse Unit Manager, won the Excellence in Safety Award. Melina was nominated by Sarah Donehue.
“Melina makes a huge difference to the safety of staff, patients and visitors. For patients, she will take the time to get to know them, to better understand their needs. For those with challenging behaviours, she has brought items in from home to help patients to feel more comfortable, such as farm related items for a patient who was a farmer,” Sarah said in her nomination.
“Melina has put in countless hours of her own time to further staff safety. These are just some of the ways Melina has gone above and beyond for safety.”
Congratulations to all the award winners.
Featured image top row: Russell Hodgson, Ali Ghosn and Max Lynch.
Bottom row: Justine Solomano, Michelle Wines, Nicole Gauthier, Victoria Dale and Melina Puddicombe.
