Weekly Dose

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23 May

Hi everyone - Tash here from the communications team. I'm heading off to a new job but before I go, I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has trusted me to tell their stories over the past six months. I have loved meeting you all, learning about your work, and sharing your stories with the community. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to see you in action - on the frontline, behind the scenes and everywhere in between. Thank you, and stay in touch!

23 May

Enormous praise for Sarah Bartsh for delivering a wonderful National Volunteers Week program and event. Sarah is so committed and passionate about delivering fantastic support and recognition to the AWH volunteers and really connecting with them. Your hard work and enthusiasm has been very well received and noticed – particularly by the Comms Team and we loved working with you to help deliver some amazing items.

May 23

Farewell and best wishes to Natasha Childs. You’ve connected with many of the AWH community and organisation to create such interesting, thoughtful and insightful pieces for everyone to enjoy. Its been such a pleasure to watch you develop connections and produce amazing work, you’re writing is a privilege to read.

You’ve been an integral part of the Comms Team and are a true support to our functions but also our people. We will really, really miss you – but we look forward to seeing the wonderful work you’ll produce on your next adventure.

All the very best, Tash!

16 April

A big thankyou to Harwood, Eldar, Tara, Amy, Riley, Ella and Tesla for looking after my son on Saturday.
You responded to his pain (and singing) with patience and compassion which we appreciated.
He wanted to say thankyou for all the hand-holding (to stabilise his shoulder).
But he has back-pedalled on his request for Eldar to walk him down the aisle (he and his girlfriend are not quite ready for that).
Again, thankyou for taking such good care of him!

14 April

Via Feedback: I was recently admitted to the Wodonga Hospital on 31 March to 3 April 2025. I am very grateful to the staff members at ED and women’s ward.
The nurses - Harriet, Gracie, and other amazing nurses.
Carol the wardsperson for being so caring and kind.
I would also like to highlight the care and kindness shown to me by the nurse practitioner on the 31st March in ED. She understood my fear of needles and was very supportive.
The doctors William and (female senior Dr) thank you!!
My experience was great. Well done Wodonga hospital.

3 April

Bone Week has finished with a total of 17 hip and knee replacement surgeries completed in a 5-day period. Thanks to all involved including Albury theatre staff, PSU ortho team and pre-admission clinics, ortho surgeons and registrars, Allied Health, CSSD and SW1. Really amazing job by all. Special thanks to Claire Phelps who facilitated and project managed.

2 April

Big shout out to Rod and Christine in Fleet Management and Anthea Maher from AWH Foundation for all their hard work in getting the PATCH car “on the road”. It was a collective team effort, and it is great to now see the car driving around the streets of Albury Wodonga delivering our Paediatric HITH program.

2 April

Via Feedback: Thank you to the fantastic staff at Albury ED who cared for my son this week. From triage through to treatment, the clinicians were kind, patient and professional - a credit to Albury Wodonga Health!

1 April

Via Feedback: I want to sincerely thank Dr Michael Hadjistyllis and the nurses on duty yesterday at ABH in A&E. Whilst my injury wasn’t serious in the end, I didn’t know this at the time and I was concerned enough to go into A&E. I want to compliment Dr Michael in particular for his kindness, care, thoroughness and professionalism. This alleviated my concern that something more serious wasn’t happening to me, gave me the confidence to treat my pain at home and removed any fear that I had wasted your time and a valuable community resource. I greatly appreciate your care and the team at ABH.

1 April

Thank you to Anthony Rodgers and the support services team for all the work behind the scenes to ensure AWRCC has continued access to much needed morning caffeine at AWRCC.

31 March

A huge shout out to Jess, Sam and the Comms team on a successful Tec 2 launch!

29 March

Via Feedback: I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you and all of your team at Surgical 1 in the Albury Base Hospital. Our Mother and Nana was treated with the utmost respect and professionalism by your staff during her stay with you over the past week. There were times when as a family we were very concerned about what outcome we were going to have to face if things didn't improve, however throughout such anxious and challenging times, it was very evident that she was getting the best possible care that anyone could wish for. Mum is now doing very well back at home in Deniliquin. A long journey ahead, but on the right track.

28 March

Via Feedback: (Med 3) The staff, nurses, doctors, everybody were fantastic, very attentive and caring, with how busy they are. I am extremely grateful for the care and professionalism of you guys. I can't thank you enough and wish everyone the best.

28 March 

Via Feedback: To the legendary nurses of Med Ward 3 - thank you for taking care of me while I've been here. I truly appreciated everything you have done for me.

25 March

Via Feedback: (Medical Imaging) All staff lovely and friendly and pleasant.

24 March

Via Feedback: (Surg 1) All the nursing staff were fantastic but one in particular stood out. Her name is Letti. She was helping another nurse with training and did it with patience and dignity. I would have her look after me anytime (and the others). When the nursing staff were being abused by another patient they held themselves well.

21 March

I would like to recognise the nursing staff from Medical Ward 3. We recently had a complex psychiatric client admitted for medical reasons, that required nurses to provide a level of care that even most mental health nurses aren’t used to. The care that was provided was consistently to a high clinical standard while also being empathetic and compassionate. I could see on a daily basis the effort from the nurses in seeking additional education and awareness of the patient experience, and how best they could provide care. I was impressed and proud to be working within this team. A special thankyou to Nurse Manager, Alice, who supports the nursing staff to go above and beyond.  Erin, CL Psych.

17 March

Via Feedback: (SW1) The nurses were so caring and compassionate. They couldn't have done more to help me and ensure that I was pain free and comfortable. Nothing was an issue and found everyone super friendly even though they were not necessarily assigned to me.

7 March

Via Feedback: (Cardian cath lab) I was absolutely delighted to secure incredible care at the cardiac lab, having had a quadruple byoass and still in shock and a little denial. The reception from the get-go was amazing, professional in every way. Kaylah and Teagan have been brilliant and any issues I had, they addressed professionally.

6 March

Via Feedback: (Day surgery) Michele and Sue are very nice, professional and knwo what they are doing. they are so pleasnt to deal with.

1 March

Via Feedback: (ED and Surg 1) The excellent care all staff gave my mum meant we did not have to worry. It allowed us to process what was happening. Thank you all.

28 February

Via Feedback: (Dietitian) Jane listened to me and gave me good advice to help me achieve a good outcome.

23 February

Via Feedback - As a recent patient (Med 3) I just wanted to let you know your staff are amazing, professional, caring, gentle and willing to help at all times. They are extremely empathetic and great people. Please thank all the staff, doctors and CT team who took wonderful care of me. Thank you.

20 February

Great feedback for Molly (OT) and Surgical 1 team from Tallangatta HS in relation to a seamless patient transfer. 'Just wanted to let you know the admission yesterday was perfect, we received all the verbal handovers medical, nursing and pharmacy. All the correct paperwork came with the patient and all the medications pharmacy organised for us. We often tend to only feedback when things go wrong, but I thought it would be nice to let you know everything went right! Thanks for facilitating a very organised transfer'.

19 February

A massive thank you to Claire, Tahlia, Natalie, Rachael, Michaella, Nicole and Laura for supporting in Wodonga theatre to allow staff to attend Ian's funeral. The team worked together well and safely facilitated a code green C-Section. A wonderful demonstration of the benefits of a cross-campus TSP program. Amazing work :)

17 February

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners at AWH's awards. Very proud of all our staff.

13 February

Congratulations to Maree Styles for 31 years’ service at Albury CSSD, and to Peter Lawler for 22 years’ service at Wodonga CSSD. Your care, dedication and commitment to supporting the theatre teams in our ongoing care of all our patients here at AWH is amazing to see. All the best from all our CSSD teams.

13 February

Mental Health - We received a compliment for Nathan Smith (mental health transition to specialty practice staff member) from the carer of an Albury CCT mental health case-managed client. Nathan's enthusiasm and professionalism is a testament to the quality of the TTSP program. Quote from the compliment letter: 'Nathan has always been empathetic, responsive and has offered helpful suggestions around improving the patient's situation.  This was incredibly refreshing after I have faced repeated buck passing or inaction by other organisations who were unwilling to think creatively or be proactive in addressing the patient's deteriorating living situation. Nathan's assistance also relieved some of the burden that I have been facing as one of the patient's supports which was greatly appreciated'.

6 February

I wanted to express my gratitude to some members of your ED team - Junior Dr Rose and Nurse Leticia.
My daughter was very sick when we got to the hospital this morning, not being able to keep anything including fluids down. She had been vomiting for 24 hours and she was not happy.
The department was extremely busy all day and we were there for 5 hours. Dr Rose made my daughter and I both feel comfortable and happy with the care that my daughter received. Nurse Leticia was gentle and caring when doing a blood sugar test. Both of them came out to check on us intermittently whilst completing a rehydration chart in the waiting room. Despite the business of the department I was never made to feel like we were less important than other patients. Every staff member we encountered including the porters were pleasant and caring.

Thank you to all at Wodonga hospital for a wonderful caring experience during a stressful and not so pleasant time for my daughter and I.

5 February

Acknowledgement of the Wodonga perioperative teams (OT, DPU,CSSD) who have had to deal with a distressing staffing loss this week. The whole team pulled together and ensured patient care and BAU operations were attended to whilst in very emotional states. Its a credit to them and their leadership.

4 February

Via Feedback: I attended Albury ED with my special needs son with a complex medical history. He had shallow breathing and a raised heart rate. I was seen immediately by the nurse for triage, then the ward clerk, and I had just sat down to pair my son's headphones to my phone for the wait when we were called in to see the doctor. The nurse kept using language that made me feel heard and reassured that she understood my concerns. The impact of her calm and reassuring words were profound. During this time two security guards turned up. This is not uncommon for us as my son was pacing back and forth, but the nurse told them clearly that they could move themselves out of sight as their presence was not helpful. Wow! The doctor was really good with my son and during her consult his numbers improved and we were sent home. It was an hour between me leaving home and returning home. I cannot praise the staff who helped us enough. The nurse behind the desk was magic. Thank you so very much.

31 January

We want to share recognition of the tireless work and strategy conducted by the IV Fluids steering committee since its inception to ensure our patients and consumers were not affected by the global fluids constraints and had their care impacted. Due to this amazing work the committee has now concluded.

23 January

Via Feedback: "I wanted to thank all the staff at Kerferd Unit for their support and care towards me... I feel so grateful to Kerferd Unit Staff in particular Chavina and Fiona and the psychiatrist Dr Christopher. His professional manner and kindness towards me are appreciated....everyone made my stay in hospital so much easier than I had expected."   

23 January

Shout out to the AWH Patient transport team who have had a challenging week with ans breaking down, as a result they are swapping shifts, start times and juggling their workload to provide a service for our patients!                                                                                     

16 January

Today is Kylie Murphy's last day as Undergraduate and Early Career Nurse Program Manager. Kylie has consistently delivered high quality practice and professionalism in this role and will be missed across the clinical education space. Kylie's ability to lead with empathy and support our early career nurses is exceptional. She is highly deserving of this recognition of excellence. Thank you, Kylie, for all you have contributed to education at AWH. (P.S. look out for Kylie taking up the occasional casual shift in the ED).

16 January

Shout out to Claire Phelps, Julie Carey, Ann Gardner, Kylie Schilling and respective teams for their smooth, efficient, and patient focused planning and implementation to facilitate the movement of several planned surgical patients from Wodonga Campus to Albury after being affected by the power outage. This movement prevented the postponement of vitally important work being undertaken.

14 January

Following two pre-admission sessions on January 2, I was admitted for an ENT operation at the Day Procedures Clinic at the Albury Campus on January 9. From initial reception to preparation for the procedure by nursing staff, the attention was outstanding. The briefing by the anaesthetist and preparation of medical surgeons in my specific case illustrated a thorough knowledge of my needs and the purpose of the procedure.

My return to recovery was monitored carefully and gave me the opportunity to reflect on a the very professional team approach at Albury-Wodonga Health.

10 January

Words cannot describe our sincere gratitude for all you have done throughout my labor and delivery, honesty on that day I was so vulnerable knowing what I needed to go through! But you did notice my frustration / anxiety which I was unable to express to anyone. Knowing that how busy you guys were but still you remembered me and came back to see me on your next shift , honestly I was so much relieved from that moment. Wish I was able to come and thank you in person.

5 January

I'm sending a thank you card, but then found this option as well. On 6.12.24, I presented at a&e after a cycling incident. Severe abrasions to face & arms degloved.The reception and triage I received was not only polite, but friendly and efficient. I was sent for surgery, and I remember Barbara Robertson clearly taking charge, and efficiently getting me priority. After surgery to get mecleaned from gravel and stitches I awoke in recovery, then to Surgical Ward, bed 5c. Nurse's were terrific, in a very busy ward with some difficult patients.Over the next 5 days, I was seen and treated by, the surgical team, (operated on again on 8.12) medical, Cardiologist, pacemaker technician, Plastic Surgeon (operated on again 11.12) pharmacy, and rehabilitation assessment, then discharged 11.12..25 afternoon. My skin grafts have taken and nearly all of my injuries have recovered. Please pass on my sincere thanks to everyone involved.
Regards John

12 December

Via Feedback: "The canteen staff (Albury) were very attentive to his discomfort despite him not saying anything, they just observed he was clearly restricted in movement and displaying signs of pain. They kindly provided him with a higher chair when they noticed his knees were causing him discomfort. He greatly appreciated this consideration and kindness. It is reassuring to see such care and responsiveness from hospital staff" - Feedback from a family.

12 December

Via feedback: " I recently experienced Albury Base due to a fall at home. I thought the tea lady was excellent and her consideration for my situation (visually impaired) was outstanding.

11 December

Great job by the Albury Theatre team who had to work in really uncomfortable conditions with high humidity levels on Saturday. they managed to balance the associated risk of operating with high humidity and priority surgery.

9 December

Via Feedback: "... a very positive experience at Albury ED on Wednesday 4 Dec... I attended with my 5-year-old daughter .. from the moment we arrived both the nurse and admin officer were friendly and welcoming... the doctor demonstrated exceptional patience and compassion... what could have been a very stressful experience for us turned into one of care and reassurance".                                                  

9 December

Via feedback: "The staff and service at the emergency department on Fri 6th December was fantastic! Such a professional, confident, and smooth operation. Congratulations".

6 December

Feedback from a patient 'Alice and the team on Medical Ward 3 made me feel really safe and treated me with respect the entire time I was in Hospital'

20 November

Shout out to SW2 for excellent work facilitating 12 discharges yesterday and accepting 11 admissions from ED whilst PAS downtime was in place

18 November

Smiles 4 Miles, a Dental Service that provides screening for kindergarten and day care children, screened 703 kids over 35 screening days in 2024 from April to November! That is an amazing amount of work from our dedicated Dental Team, in particular Paige, Tyla, Tara & Sinead. Thanks to all involved!

14 November

Thank You to the team on Medical Ward 2 who worked through 11 discharges and 2 transfers yesterday while still supporting the strike action. Well done

13 November

Consumer feedback for Brooke Turner in the Clinical Safety and Quality team "Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to understand, not listen to respond. I felt heard and validated by you and would like you to know that you do a great job, and you in particular accomplish your role wonderfully".

7 November

Shout out to our AWH McGrath Breast Care Nurses, Gabi and Robyn! A mother and daughter (both are patients) recently reached out for support and now both feel fully supported, describing them as "awesome." Thank you both for making such a difference!                                            

7 November

Huge thank you to Brett P as Director on Call, ADONs Bree, Olivia, Cheryl, Chelsea and Sharon, Clare M, David C and the entire ED teams for managing significant demand over night with the thunderstorm asthma activity. The teams pulled together and managed the situation safely and professionally. Also thanks to our staff in our IPUs for supporting flow movements with agility to support our ED and ICU. Amazing example of what our teams can do to care for our community.

7 November

We just received a ticket expressing the following from Sarah Potter " I'm cognisant of the huge workload you have ahead of you today and during the coming days. Thanks for your hard work. I'm glad I'm not in IT!

4 November

Via Feedback for Albury ED: "My mum came to the ED yesterday. I'm feeling very worried about her, your staff are amazing. Really put me at ease - it is very much appreciated and the care they are giving her is great. Thankyou!"

1 November

High praise and kudos to the PSU team in Swift St. A glitch in the PAS migration of data has affected some surgical reporting and they have had to implement manual work arounds for up to 2000 patients on waitlist. their problem solving and get it done attitude is admirable and fabulous.

31 October

Amazing job by the hardworking team in S2 for 11 discharges yesterday.

30 October

Congrats to the Cath Lab team who will achieve the 1000th case for the year, which has not ever been achieved in years prior.

29 October

A massive thank you to the staff at Wodonga Dental Services, in particular the SDN Rachel Kent. They have been extremely welcoming and helpful during for new staff. A fantastic team!

28 October

Shout out to Danielle Hanlon – Educator on Children’s Ward for wowing the audience at RCH with her development and implementation of the AWH Complex Care Card : “Comprehensive Care for Country Kids”. Dan is a fierce advocate for the provision of the best care, and a positive patient journey for our local paediatric patients and their families.           

28 October

Thank you to Wodonga OT staff who provided care for a complex patient who had a caesarean section on Friday 25/10. The women and partner had a fantastic experience, and the midwives attending were full of praise for everyone in OT.                                                                                                                      

28 October

Happy final day of Occupational Therapy Week to all OTs across the health service. This year's OT week theme has centred on the importance of connection. The OT team love working closely with all of the wider clinical and non-clinical teams as we collectively strive to provide high quality services for and with our local community.

24 October

Big thanks to Al (Sug 2 NUM) and Kali (ICU NUM) for your invaluable support with a complex tracheostomy case, allowing for timely management and patient centred care! Your collaboration made all the difference for the patient and our speech pathology team.

23 October

AWH’s Breast Care nurses were interviewed on ABC radio yesterday morning for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Well done Gabi Pulla and Robyn Goldsworthy for raising awareness and promoting early detection.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Big shout out to Sarah Potter who is having an article published in the December journal JARNA, Sarah has also been elected as the Vice president of the Australasian Rehab Nurses Association.

21 October

Thankyou to all staff who have been involved with AOU over the last 21/2 years and for those who have supported HRT in the closure. its been a process with lots of learnings.                                            

Huge shout out to Paula Purtell and all the Albury CSSD Team this week, you have gone above and beyond to process 13 loan sets for this week’s orthopaedic lists. Your dedication to providing outstanding support to the theatre team and most of all to our patients is amazing. Thank you from your ever grateful manager Julie

17 October

Huge thank you to Karly and Sadie for all their hard work facilitating the Just a Farmer movie on Wednesday evening. Your hard work made for a sensational evening.

10 October

A shout out to the Medical Ward 1 team, who took a very progressive approached to patient centred care of a patient admitted with them currently. Well done team.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Big thanks to Katrina McAuliffe who worked very hard to coordinate a MW2 to to transfer home on a public holiday for end on life care, which was the patient and family wish.  Good work.

8 October

Wonderful to see 35 staff turn out to wave Sue Odgers off last evening.                                                                                                                                          

Big thanks the the flexibility of Wodonga Theatre and DPU teams for the big effort to reduce ETBS patients yesterday. Lots of surgical and patient movements to assist getting a large volume of work completed.

4 October

Great work by Tracy in Acute in highlighting a potential logistical issue with a Baxter pump order that was going to stop a discharge! Well done to the Progression of Care Hub Team for escalating the issue, well done to Pharmacy for saving the day and progressing that person's care.

2 October

Maher & Dannielle McLeish for calm and considered leadership of a cyber security incident over the weekend. As Acting Director of Information Management, Lachie has done a great job!

1 October

Shout out to the Medical Ward 3 team with some wonderful feedback -'when I had trouble breathing the nursing staff were there to reassure me and assist me through it. All the nurses on medical ward 3 were excellent, I am truly grateful for their care. I could not have asked for better care.    

30 September

Shout out to both theatre teams for getting through in excess of 40+ emergency cases over the weekend. Emergency surgery demand remains high, and the teams are doing a great job in managing and prioritising care. Thank you to all of the wards for their prompt transfer of patients and their assistance in getting through this giant workload.                

26 September

Via Feedback: "I wanted to pass on my sincere thanks and appreciation for the care I received... staff were really amazing, so caring and considerate of my feelings and my dignity also. I couldn't be more grateful. This is by far the best experience I've had with healthcare on the border". - For Wodonga OT and WSU

25 September

Via Feedback - The meals were delicious; the cleaning staff were so friendly and it was lovely that visitors were welcomed and treated so warmly by all staff members. We are lucky to have such a wonderful service on the border".

25 September

Via Feedback - The meals were delicious; the cleaning staff were so friendly and it was lovely that visitors were welcomed and treated so warmly by all staff members. We are lucky to have such a wonderful service on the border".

25 September

Well done to the Birth Suite PM team on 24/9 who delivered 6 babies in 3hrs. Quite the work out; and a fantastic job ensuring babies were born safe and sound.       

25 September

Via Feedback - The midwives and "midhusband" demonstrated so much care towards my new baby, my partner and myself whilst we navigated those first few days as new parents... The advice I received was well communicated, detailed, and delivered in a way that left me feeling capable.. I would like to acknowledge Jo, Jess, Andrea, Deanne, Natalina, Rin, Tenae, Kerri-Anne, Aoife, Charlee and Emma. These lovely people gave exceptional care and i cannot thank them enough for the positive experience.."  

25 September

Excellent work by all theatre NUM's in working collaboratively with surgical teams with innovation to reduce the Emergency surgery workload.       

24 September

To the entire staff at Kerferd for caring for the family members of a current patient after the recent tragic death of his brother.

23 September

A shout out for Rachael Kent and the staff down at AWH dental who have been working exceptionally hard to ensure quality care while impacted by unplanned leave.  Dental you do a great job!                                       

20 September

Blackwood Cottage would like to recognise Tony Martino (EEN) for his recent donation of 26 new chairs to the unit, replacing our very old, unsafe chairs! Tony and another of our EEN's, Lyn Peterson, drove to Shepparton to pick up the chairs & bring them back to us. Each resident now has a new chair in their room & there are chairs in the garden for residents & their families to enjoy the sunshine and flowers. An inspirational act of generosity! 👏❤👏  

Via Feedback: "Tania was absolutely amazing and her love and care (and great stories and chats) were pivotal in helping my mum, in particular, to get through the final days of my dad’s life... we really wish to thank Tania. The hospital is very fortunate to have her on board". (Med 2)

19 September 

Thanks to the IT legends (Toby L. (L is for Legend) and Darryl) for fixing the ambulance arrival screens in the Progression of Care Hub! We've got visibility again of our service partners' ability to provide Emergency care in the community. Thanks

18 September

The Paediatric Cancer Care Initiative has been listed as a finalist in the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards under the category - care closer to home. Excellent work has been achieved over 18 months by Jo Owen & Imogen Riley to ensure the success of the program & benefitting many children & their families in our region.

17 September

Liz from S2 for excellent patient feedback from a patient who had a MET call on the weekend.

13 September

Shoutout to our Wodonga Medical Imaging Team who, despite resourcing challenges, brought the clinical report writing backlog up to date yesterday. An immense effort from a team heavily impacted with unplanned leave!

11 September

I would like to recognise the amazing work across AWH to support the delivery of excellent patient focused care during the 12 hr NSWNM strike action.       

Consumer Feedback: For Dr Sheean in Albury ED. "We are very thankful for his professionalism, extensive knowledge and patient care... he took a thorough history, provided examination, and left us with a clear and comprehensive treatment plan moving forward.        

Excellent work by Rachel Busch (S2 Flow nurse) and team for navigating a really difficult discharge pathway for an extended stay patient.  patient went home to his family yesterday with lots of supports in place.                                                                                  

10 September

A big shout out goes to all who took part in the filming and photography shoot on Thursday and Friday of last week. People and Culture greatly appreciate people taking time out of their usual duties to support the development of a staff onboarding/orientation video. 

Excellent work by Rachel Busch (S2 Flow nurse) and team for navigating a really difficult discharge pathway for an extended stay patient.  patient went home to his family yesterday with lots of supports in place.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

9 September 

Shout out to Surg 1 team & in particular Anique Colley for her fabulous communication with a family member. "On behalf of our entire family, we sincerely wish to thank Dr Sunni and all the wonderful staff at Albury Base who provided such quality care for Mum's procedure and post-surgery needs". Well done! Great communication from surgery bookings, theatres, surgeons, and post op care.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

A big shout out of thanks goes to all who took part in the filmng and photography shoot on Thursday and Friday of last week. People and Culture greatly appreciate people taking time out of their usual duties to support the development of a staff onboarding/orientation video. 

I wanted to recommend one of our EENs, Tony Martino, for an award of recognition for his amazing effort and thoughtfulness in his recent donation to Blackwood Cottage. Blackwood has previously had very old outdated and well-worn furniture. The consumers have soiled these chairs on multiple occasions. The potential of purchasing new chairs was discussed some time ago, and not revisited due to budget restrictions.Yesterday, Tony Martino and one of our other EENs, Lyn Peterson travelled all the way to Shepparton after doing Night shift, in their own vehicles and trailer to collect new furniture for our Blackwood Consumers. The furniture is appropriate for older people and meets current standard safety requirements. Both Tony and Lyn unpacked the 26 chairs in total and removed the older furniture. As a result, every resident now has an armchair in their bedroom and there are now chairs outside in the garden for consumers and their families to enjoy the sunshine and flowers. The consumers quality of life will benefit significantly from Tony’s hard work and thoughtful donation, it was an inspirational act of generosity and I believe this deserves to be celebrated and acknowledged.

6 September 

Via Feedback: Some lovely cross divisional feedback was received for ED, Theatres, Paediatric Ward and Fracture Clinic regarding a patient journey for a 13 year old with a fractured wrist - Well done to all teams involved to deliver a positive patient experience for this young person and their family!

5 September 

Great job by Tim Malone - Perioperative Nurse Manager who was interviewed by ABC local radio. he spoke really well about the CIty to City fundraising and the recent purchase of equipment for O&G surgery and birth suite bed.

The Ovens Murray Public Health Unit would like to highlight the exceptional efforts of the Public Health Officers (PHOs) Emily Ozolins, Hirukshi Bennett Rathnayake, Holly Caldwell, Samantha Percy, and Terri Gallacher in managing recent communicable disease outbreaks, including respiratory infections, in the Ovens Murray region. Their willingness to go above and beyond in supporting facilities during these outbreaks has been outstanding. Their effective communication and coordination, both internally and with external stakeholders, have been crucial to our success. We also wish to acknowledge the broader Health Protection and Operations teams, as well as the Clinical Team, for their invaluable support and expertise provided to the PHOs. Their dedication and hard work are truly deserving of formal recognition.

3 September 

I would like to acknowledge the support and generosity received from Anthea, acting NUM in Rehab Ward, who negotiated staff changes to release a casual nurse so they could work in DNS where staff were desperately required to safely provide care in the community.

30 August

Feedback from Child & Family Nursing (CFN) team: Bianca Hare (AOD & MH Team Member) provided assistance & care navigation through to our ED for a young mother who presented to the CFN service at risk.  CFN team would like to commend Bianca for her exceptional attitude to teamwork and her willingness to support other staff in a risky situation. Her willingness to assist another service and go above and beyond her role in D&A. Her care and compassion for the client and her Child. Her mentoring of other staff, her "can do" attitude, & her positive manner was, & is amazing.

29 August 

Via consume Feedback "I am a patient of Jack Herron in Wodonga. He is a bright "youngish" professional and makes me, the patient, feel like I am important to him. The staff at 79 Vermont Street are all very pleasant"

26 August 

I would like  to acknowledge the contributions of both Adil Khan & Emma Thorneycroft in their consecutive roles as Program Manager for the Dental program at AWH.  The AWH Dental program is a highly valued community service in the Wodonga & surrounding rural communities.  Together with the rest of the Dental team, I wish them both all the best for the future.

23 August

Special mention to Palliative Care CNS Fiona Kilpatrick. Beautiful words of gratitude were written to Fiona by a bereaved wife about the difference Fiona made, as a Palliative Care staff member, to the lives of her and her husband (who died at the end of July). She stated that Fiona put Quality of Life front and foremost in the care of her husband.

22 August

To the District Nursing Team, from a Palliative Care family member: "Thank you for the difference you made to our world making it impossible to forget your kindness and strength".

21 August

Q4 Victorian Health Experience Survey (VHES) results are out - AWH patient experience results show that 97.2% of patients rate the care they received from our health service very highly. Incredible results to be proud of! Keep up the good work.

20 August

I would like to acknowledge the kitchen staff, especial Bec, who went above and beyond today.  I went down with a request for a modified meal for a gentleman with MND and Bec was understanding of the circumstance and offered to problem solve the request despite it being well after time to put in meal requests.  I was so grateful to her for her understanding. It has made a big difference for the patient.

19 August

Thanks, and appreciation to the Wodonga F&M team and Jonno Knagge who facilitated and ensured that minor works in the upgrade of the endoscopy reprocessing happened smoothly over the last 2 weekends.

9 August

Ward teams have been planning for the next day's discharges by putting "likely discharges tomorrow" numbers into the DOS tool by 3:30pm. This has helped the Progression of Care Hub Team to support org wide planning for patient flow for the next day. These efforts are supporting AWH to become a proactive health service. Well done to all teams for their teamwork and diligence.                                                                           

9 August

A big thankyou to Daz, Lindsay & Lauren from the patient transport team for their care and professionalism when supporting OT/PT with a complex discharge on Tuesday. They enabled the challenging task to run smoothly and effortlessly, putting the clients needs first throughout. 

7 August

For DPU Albury "Even wearing masks, all who I engaged with I could see thier eyes SMILING. I was treated like a celebrity with respect and lots of care. Thank you all".

2 August

Shout out to Tracey Elliott (WC Acute ANUM) for her fantastic communication, patient centered care and ability to create early flow out of the ward.  

I would like to recognise the amazing work of Ebony from the Accounts Payable team for her above and beyond support. Thank you from Holly Clarke DONM - Workforce & Professional Practice                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

1 August 

A huge thanks to the Karen & the ICT team that worked overnight to resolve the Digital Certification replacement works. 

Via Feedback - "I want to send a huge thank you to all the staff at Wodonga DPU for treating us with such kindness and compassion. They absolutely went above and beyond to ensure our time there was as least stressful as possible".

30 July

Well done to Sarah Smith (WC ED ANUM) for great communication and patient centred care of a pt in WC ED. Sarah liaised with concerned family members and was able to support them getting the patient back to their nursing home for EOLC.

26 July

A huge shout out to Jess Amy and Sam Peet for their outstanding work in the establishment of the Progression to Care Hub. From the initial stages of planning to the successful execution and final delivery, their dedication has been nothing short of exceptional. This is the first hub developed in a regional hospital which is a massive achievement that should be celebrated!!                                                                                          

25 July

A massive callout to the quick-thinking actions of Donna Kille, Diedre Tobin, and the Wodonga Administration team in the handling of a Code Red that occurred when a charging station erupted into flames at Wodonga Main Reception. Swift action by Donna with the Fire Extinguisher prevented a significant event on campus. Diedre and the Admin team escalated the emergency through 2222 and the response provided by the ADON, FMS, Wards persons, and Security demonstrate the true value of our Emergency Management capability.

Well done!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

25 July

Amidst the hospital's rush, a savory retreat. Oasis Cafe burgers make my week complete. Grateful for each bite- they're a delicious treat. Can't wait for Burger Thursday- you'll see me again next week!

23 July

I would like to acknowledge and thank Nick Guiney (physio) and Sania Gugich (OT) for the way in which they diligently planned and carried out an extremely confronting and challenging discharge for a patient on medical 2. The way in which these two clinicians worked with the client and family to ensure the client was able to return home in a way that was as dignified as possible, given really tricky physical challenges, was a testament to their person centred and compassionate approach to service provision.     

23 July

Regarding above recognition, thank you also to the patient transport team for the support provided on discharge. Pat, OT Manager.     

19 July 

Thanks to all involved in the ongoing and very dynamic establishment of the Progression of Care Hub. To ICT, Infrastructure, Nursing and Midwifery Workforce Unit, the Access and Flow Team and the future team of the HUB- your teamwork has been exemplary.

18 July 

Wodonga Community Palliative Care and Wodonga DNS are working above and beyond to support patient choices in preferred place of death and care. They are managing complex symptomology and psychosocial situations to keep people at home and out of the ED/inpatient space. I would like to recognise their work, professionalism, and patient centred care. They are giving a lot at the moment to support our community.

17 July 

Congratulations to all involved in the ongoing and very dynamic establishment of the Progression of Care Hub. To ICT, Infrastructure, Nursing and Midwifery Workforce Unit, the Access and Flow Team and the future team of the HUB- your teamwork has been exemplary.

15 July 

Shout out to theatres who over the last two weeks have been supporting the Critical care and Emergency Nursing Post Graduate students in anaesthetics to gain experience and exposure to airway management and intubation. Students have reported feeling well supported and have learnt a great deal. Thank you.    

Acknowledgement to Cameron Little wood (Birth Suite NUM) and his midwife wife Emily for excellence in teamwork with helping to deliver a baby on the side of the road at the logic centre on Saturday night. Of note - Cam is now down 1 jacket :)

4 July

Bigs thanks to Pat and Phil (F&M) for their expertise in fixing an endoscopy reprocessing unit on thursday am at Albury theatre.  this was really urgent work which had the potential to affect patient procedures on the day. Pat and Phil were excellent in their response time and quick-thinking actions to maintain service.

3 July

Excellence awarded to Tim Malone who supported a palliative patients NOK in the corridor, who had small children, to have access to the paediatric playground. just a small thing which allow the adults to have some crucial 1:1 time with their dying father. thanks also to Jo Owen for allowing this to occur. these are the small things that leave patients and their families leaving our health service with a positive experience. HRT

1 July

Happy 15th Birthday AWH!!

26 June 

Big thanks to Nick Guiney for stepping up to assist SITH staff with minimal notice to conduct an initial assessment on a patient with amputation and prosthetic training when we were down physio staffing.  This ensured the patient received the assessment and care he required at the right time.  Thanks Nick from Sarah and SITH staff.   

Acknowledge to everyone in every space working incredibly hard to ensure patient safety and care. Difficult winter period

Many thanks to SITH and subacute ward staff for stepping up the past week to cover unplanned sick leave to ensure patient safety and care wasn't compromised.

25 June 

A huge thankyou to the Wardsperson and Security team for supporting Corridor Clearing Procedure during closure of ED/ICU/Radiology corridor over the last week. Calm, consistent and committed response to ensuring safe passage of critically ill patients.

13 June

Congrats to the PSS team who worked tirelessly to build a working relationship with Alpine Health. Yesterday AWH did their first surgical list at Mount Beauty with great success. SHout out to Casey Fahey, Gerry Tooze and Dr Adam Skidmore for the work they did to make it a success.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Well done to Lucy Cue PSU NUM for her great presentation to the Consumer Experience committee yesterday. Her commitment to her unit and the AWH surgical patients shone through, thanks also to Casey Fahey for helping to support and build the presentation,  great job by all :)

I would like to recognise the nursing staff of the Medical Ward 2 who over the past (almost) 2 years, have cared for a patient with medical complications caused by psychiatric illness. The Consultation Liaison Team has witnessed incredible empathy and a high degree of skill amongst the nursing staff. We wanted to express how impressive we have found the nursing staff, who are able to care for the patient and for each other in a stressful environment with a highly complex case.

11 June

Just wanted to say that the Albury theatre staff on Monday morning and afternoon were simply phenomenal. Never in my years have I seen such efficiency and organisation to get cases done. Please pass on my heartfelt gratitude - Phil (Locum Surgeon)

5 June 

Shout out to Jacqui the cleaner in children’s ward. Every single day going over and above to keep our ward looking in tip top shape. So grateful to have her as part of the kids ward team.    

Thank you to all who contributed to the recent AWRCC Food Drive to support Food Share Wodonga. Michelle Frei, Oncology Social Work.  05/06 Thank you to all who contributed to the recent AWRCC Food Drive to support Food Share Wodonga. In our region on any given day, at least 2,223 people require food assistance, some of which are also our patients. Thank you to Michelle Frei, Oncology Social Worker and the AWH Cancer Services Psycho-oncology team for organising.                                                                                                                                                                                   

3 June 

Shout out to Lisa Larkin in Speech Pathology - feedback received via informal conversation from community member over the weekend. Community member spoke to Lisa's exceptional person centred care and "going the extra mile" for pts and thier families.

28 May 

Positive feedback regarding care received by child from WCED to Children's Ward - They felt the team cared for family and the patient, big thanks from this family as the care went above and beyond!

27 May 

A shout out for Clare Maher for taking a late Friday phone call around a potential patient Family Violence risk over the weekend. Clare was extremely helpful, caring and professional in actioning strong communication plan across the weekend.  Very thankful, thanks Clare.  

Recognition to the Access and flow director and bed manager for their tireless work every day to get patients cared for and admitted.

7 May 24

I just wanted to recognise Nick (Physio) for going above and beyond last Wednesday with a complex case in HAB. This was regarding a patient who had likely bulbar MND (not formally Dx) and was quite advanced. Nick wasn’t directly seeing the patient from a PT point of view however, made every effort to support his MDT colleagues in advocating for best care for this patient.

Shout out to Craig Gilbertson for his work in developing education package for the early roll out of MR21 - theatre checklist

8 May 24 

A HUGE thanks to the FMS/ICT/Biomed team who supported decanting and commissioning of ED Yellow at very short notice yesterday to support our current clinical operational demand.                                                                                                                                                                        

Via Feedback: "My dad .. was discharged from ICU today. Myself and my mum would like to pass on our thanks - all staff were incredibly kind, thorough, knowledgeable (taking time to educate us) and patient, they took fantastic care of him and promptly escalated any concerns. All the doctors and nurses (including the student nurse) went above and beyond for us, and dad and we are really grateful.

2 May 24

A big shout out to the Nolan House team for their exceptional care and compassion for a patient that presented with dual MH and disability and homelessness, with no other care options. This was a very complex presentation on so many levels and the team worked outside of the square and tirelessly to support and find appropriate care - lead by Cindy NUM and the social workers.

25 April 24

Recognition to Leaha Franks - senior EN on SW2 for going above and beyond her scope of practice and rostered duties to organise and transport an extended long stay patient for a haircut on Monday. Extremely caring act.

24 April 24

Thanks to our teams in SW2 and AOU who both, despite the PH managed a discharge each prior to 0900hrs! Woohoo.

18 April 24

A big shout out to Suzanne Nelson who has retired after 34 years at AWH working in Theatre and Infection Prevention.  Her commitment to this organisation especially during the pandemic was amazing. Sue was a good friend and great support to everyone she worked with, and she deserves a relaxing retirement after many years of service.  There is a casual celebration at the Lincoln Hotel from 4pm - 8pm tonight (Thursday 18/4) , everyone is welcome to drop in for a short time or stay for dinner. No booking required.                                                                                        

17 April 24

Mother of a very young girl wrote to thank Dr Andrew Rechtman and express her gratitude for the care her daughter and family received when their daughter had a stroke last December. This little girl spent 6 hours in ED and are extremely grateful to the brilliant Paediatric Registrar, other consultants, and the ED team. "On the worst day of our lives, Dr Andrew kept us informed every step of the way, & worked quickly to coordinate the team & stabilise our daughter." ... Dr Andrew continues to care for our little girl, which provides comfort. "We are indescribably grateful."

16 April 24

Shout out the Surg 2 team lead by Alison Smart - who provided outstanding care, compassion, persistence and advocacy to a patient and her son, resulting in the best possible outcome for the patient. The team has made a difference to this person’s life and provided exceptional care in complex circumstances, led by a wonderful leader in Alison. Please pass onto the team. 

Feedback received from a patient wanting to thank DPU staff for their care during her admission "she could not speak highly enough' of all the DPU staff.

27 March 24

Huge thanks to the Albury theatre team who worked through some time critical Anaesthetic needs for an ICU patient. They handled it professionally and ensured that every patient and staff member remained safe and received the important care they needed.

26 March 24

Shout out to Wodonga Theatre team who have completed 5 emerg Caesars in the last 24 hrs. Huge collaborative effort with all interdisciplinary teams involved.    

Thankyou to Dr Nadine and the ED team for providing such excellent patient centred care for a paediatric patient with prior medical trauma. They ensured his journey to get an IV cannula was calm, professional, with no distress. They listened to his carer and spoke with her about planning to ensure every base was covered. His Mum was extremely grateful, and it was the best experience in hospital he has had. There was a multidisciplinary approach, and it also ensured a fast admission to the Paediatric Ward.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

25 March 24

Shout out to Dr Nadine, Dr Eldar and the ED nursing team who advocated for excellent patient centred care for a paediatric patient with a significant medical trauma history. This experience was the best by far as reported by his mum. Mum was so grateful to have his first line of care attended to so beautifully with a quick and seamless transfer to Childrens Ward. Thank you so much to all involved!  

 Shout out to Karen Carlisle and the Wodonga DPU team for an excellent morning tea and decorations to celebrate National Endometriosis awareness month.

15 March 24

We would like to acknowledge Olivia Moon from the Nursing and Midwifery Workforce Unit for excellence in supporting the our teams workforce needs with a team focus.      

Feedback for Dr Shanon Elliot in Wodonga ED "We can't praise her enough. She was very, very nice, polite, organised.. Dr Elliot is a credit to our hospital".                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

13 March 24

Via Feedback: "Racheal has an amazing ability to genuinely connect and care for the residents. Racheal is warm, funny, a great communicator with enormous amounts of empathy and concern for residents. Her positive attitude spreads love and light with a key driver being the well-being and contentment of the residents. Great staff like Racheal are hard to find and harder to keep - please thank Racheal for outstanding service to residents and visitors... she really is a gem." - Feedback for Blackwood

Via Feedback: "Everyone in Children's ward team was absolutely wonderful during our recent stay. Nicole and Casey working on 8/3 made my son feel so special and they really went above and beyond when he was anxious..." Feedback for our Paeds Team            

Shout out to Claire Phelps and Courtney in theatres for taking the time to take a paediatric patient on a journey through theatres to try and alleviate some of his fears surrounding his up an coming surgery.                               

12 March 24

Via Feedback: "my whole experience at Kerferd... was nothing but incredible... honourable mentions to Julie, Ange, Maddie, Karen, Dr Dong, Dr Shanti and Elle and Fiona who always made you feel comfortable... Every single nurse I had I felt respected and valued. Forever grateful" - Well done to all at Kerferd.

8 March 24

Congratulations to the Infrastructure & F&MS team for the coordination of works to commission the new EWIS.  Complex work that was meticulously planned & delivered with patient & staff safety as number one priority.  Particular thanks to Shane Hancock & Ed King for their leadership.

Congratulations to the ICT team for completion of the critical fabric switch work yesterday.  Another example of complex work & huge effort to engage the key operational leads to assess & mitigate the risks of disruption to our services & patient care.  Particular thanks to Avi Aditi who led the work.

Thanks to the Albury Theatres for proactively pulling their patients in to create urgent capacity in Albury ED yesterday morning. The efforts were recognised and appreciated by the clinical staff. Thanks also to S1 and S2 teams for their creative planning to create additional inpatient capacity.

7 March 24

A huge thankyou to the wonderful women who shared their stories at the All Staff Webinar yesterday ahead of International Women’s Day! I think everyone can take something away from the inspiring stories shared. Well done!

4 March 24

Via Feedback: I Would like to send a big shout out to the Nolan House team (Prea, Frankie & Akayla) and ADON Maria for the safe discharge of a consumer on Sunday 3rd March. The Nolan House team tirelessly collaborated together to ensure the consumer was safely discharged into the care of a family member. Thank you Nolan House Team for your compassion in advocating for consumers and being inspirational role models to future mental health clinicians! - Mental Health TSP Student.

1 March 24

February has seen a high amount of new admissions and lots of discharges at our health service across the board. Well done to all staff involved, from the care giving staff, to those managing and coordinating efforts, to the Director group for amazing teamwork. It has been very tough. You are all doing a great job.  Thanks for being at work!   

Via Feedback "A sincere Thank you for all your fast and efficient assessment, help and support... you were all excellent in explaining the problems, treatment with a friendly caring and comforting manner. It was a huge help and we so greatly appreciate your kindness and all that you did for us.." 

Via Feedback "I wish to thank you for your work and dedication to providing nutritious meals. Every day patients look forward to seeing team members deliver meals. Thank you for the team behind these deliveries; designing menus, ordering food, cooking, preparing & serving food, & then doing all those dishes!!... Without your work & commitment patients would not recover. It takes much more than medical, nursing & allied health to have patients recover & return home. Thank you" - Amazing feedback for our food services teams

28 Feb 24

During a recent admission in Surg 2 I was very impressed by all staff and the care I received. My mother, a retired nurse, was especially impressed by the nurses and their teaching of the student nurses on the ward.  She stated she thought the interactions and education given were excellent.

27 - Feb 24

Via Feedback "The nurses are outstanding! They showed, communicated and preformed with so much respect... Karen and Linda were personable, skilful, kind, friendly, professional and entertaining! Great to see so many happy staff enjoying their workplace!" - Amazing feedback received for Transit Lounge.

Via Feedback "There was so much positivity amongst all the staff - from the porters, nurses, clerical staff and doctors... a general air of happiness and cooperation.. I was treated with respect and kindness" Thank you for Periop and Surgical Services.

Via Feedback "Brianna, nurse in emergency was amazing, great communication, compassion and understanding. All staff were professional and caring - thank you all so much! Our doctor was so good. Made my life as a mother of a hurt son just so much more bearable. Much love" - For our amazing ED

26 - Feb 24 

Via Feedback "I would like to compliment Dr Sam in A&E for the friendly and helpful approach to my visit... he put my  mind at ease with his 'bedside manner' - or 'wheelchair-side manner' in my case at A&E, and was providing information in a clear and easily understood manner" - Thanks to Dr Sam!

22 Feb -24

Card given to AWH Cancer Services Breast Cancer CNC: Dear Gabi, Thank you so much for all the support that you have provided me and my partner. You were a breath of fresh air when you walked into my life. Thank you!

21 Feb -24

Via Feedback: "I would like to provide feedback and pass on my genuine thanks and gratitude to Al Smart (NUM) Surgical Unit 2 and her competent and friendly nursing staff - Kiera and Livvy... These amazing ladies provided support and reassurance not only to my mum but me as well... their caring nature, compassion and empathy was extremely appreciated." Well done Surg 2!!  

Awesome support from the first visit to my home & still months later, the wrap around care they provided to a fellow mum with PND has been incredible, made me proud to know they are part of AWH.                          

Via Feedback "Everyone is amazing. The care and empathy is outstanding, a real tribute to their professions... cannot thank tall the staff enough they made my stay a really good experience" - Amazing feedback for Med 3 Team!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

20- Feb-24

Congratulations to Albury CSSD staff member Maree Styles on 30 years’ service at AWH. Maree is a very valued staff member who has been a tower of support in any issue and changes that have happened in the CSSD.        

Shout out to Ed and Tash in engineering for their prompt response to fixing the washers at Albury theatres. Thank you for working tirelessly in the background for us!!     

19 Feb - 24

City to City was brilliant! thanks to all involved it’s a huge effort. Very sad that it’s the last one.      

Shout out to Kylie Murphy and the huge efforts to recruit, orientate and support our first 2024 Graduate Nurse cohort. Thank you Kylie for your person centred approach to this important work that significantly impacts our nursing workforce!                                                                                                            

16 Feb - 24

Via Feedback "cannot sing the praises for the Paediatric team high enough - A Brilliant bunch of people who clearly love their jobs and go above and beyond".    

Excellent night celebrating AWH at the awards night yesterday.  it was a real pleasure to be involved.  well done to all the nominees and award winners.  thanks to Bill & exec for supporting this night and may it continue,  great job by the organising committee.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

14 Feb - 24

Via Feedback "I found the staff to be extremely polite, courteous, and professional throughout my stay. .. noting they have a range of tasks and responsibilities which they priorittised the staff were more than happy to stop and chat with me during my stay; I think this helped me to maintain a positive outlook.... I would very much like to extend my sincere thanks to all the staff for supporting me through my stay - They are simply awesome people and are doing a fantastic job" - For our amazing Wodonga ED and COU teams.

Via Feedback - Letter received from Dr Williams, Paediatric Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician at RCH, formally complimenting the Albury Paediatric Team - in particular NUM Jo Owen and Dr Andrew Rechtman. "I cannot speak highly enough of the care, attention and consistency provided to this family by the Albury Team... Your whole facility should be proud to have such impressive professionals improving the lives of kids and thier families at the hardest of times".              

13 Feb - 24

Recognition of the hard working multidiscplinary team effort in Fracture Clinic last week. The entire team (registrars, RMO, admin, PTs, AHAs and volunteers) worked beyond their rostered shifts to ensure all patients were appropriately and safely reviewed. The clinic finished after 6pm. All staff went above and beyond and worked well together to achieve holistic care for over 120 patients that day.                       

Via Feedback - Letter received from Dr Williams, Paediatric Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician at RCH, formally complimenting the Albury Paediatric Team - in particular NUM Jo Owen and Dr Andrew Rechtman. "I cannot speak highly enough of the care, attention and consistency provided to this family by the Albury Team... Your whole facility should be proud to have such impressive professionals improving the lives of kids and thier families at the hardest of times".                       

12 Feb-24

Albury CSSD have processed an amazing amount of Othopaedic Loan instrument sets over the last week and continuing this week. Well done to you all, you are amazing.

Staff within the Transition Care Program received a plaque of thanks from a recent client - Not your typical thank you card. 

02-Feb-24

Via Feedback: "I just wanted to express my sincere thanks to all of the staff involved in the care of my son... who was on Children's ward from 29/1/24-31/01/24. I felt that all of my concerns were listened to and valid and that there was constant communication and updates from the doctors about the plan of care. Our admission also included first x-rays, first trip to theatre and the staff in imaging, theatre and recovery were so patient and caring with him, making a stressful time so much easier. The nurses on childrens ward were fantastic. I'd especially like to thank Laura... Also another thank you to Tess from the Ronald McDonald house for checking in and providing an iPad for use during our stay. Thank you to Lachlan the wards person for getting us to and from theatre, the catering and learning staff for keeping us fed and helping make our stay so comfortable" - AMAZING work from all the teams to deliver a positve patient experience.

01-Feb-24

Thank you to the District Nursing Team who went above & beyond for a family last weekend to trouble shoot some very difficult logistics to support the care of a family in distress.  Your professionalism & compassion was outstanding.

31-Jan-24

Via Feedback: "I would like to say thankyou to you all, right across the baord. Excellent service. I was well looked after, not a trouble for anyone, everyone so happy. So grateful for eveyone and thankyou once again" - Feedback for the amazing Med 3 team.

30-Jan-24     

Resus team in Wodonga ED yesterday afternoon.  Amazing teamwork.

27-Sep-23

The NMWU would like to recognise the amazing work of Del Neilson (NUM MW1) and Alice Lieschke (MW3) in the organisational approach they have taken to support the workforce demand across the clinical operations teams.

26-Sep-23
Thanks so much to Julia Hargreaves in ED Yellow recently when my 5-year-old son fractured his arm. She provided holistic, patient centred care and made the trip into ED on my day off a quick and easy process. This then flowed onto a great experience in fracture clinic the following week, such a streamlined process. Thanks so much for such a great service.

25-Sep-23
Thanks to the Wodonga ED team led by Simone, for providing timely care to a community patient & preventing a poor outcome & experience for the patient.  

20-Sep-23

A massive thank you to Tash and Ed from Albury F&MS. Tash was a champ when came to replacing several registration plates on our Pool Vehicles. Without Tash it would’ve taken twice the time out of an already busy day. Your work is greatly appreciated, thank you both.

Shout out to Amanda Kiss, Rebecca Richmond and Kate Robinson for their great teamwork, patience and persistence. They have been working with a person who is receiving radiation. This person has many challenges, including difficulty following treatment recommendations, emotional regulation and reduced cognitive skills. The team has put in 110% to support this person and have done so with patience, persistence and person centred care. They have used humour, rapport building skills and team work to support this person to stay engaged in treatment.

18-Sep-23
Call out to theatres, CSSD, DPU, surg/anaesthetic teams for working through 32 emergency cases over 2 days and 215 day only cases at WC for the week. A massive effort in the midst of Level Black week.

15-Sep-23
Shout out to Alice Lieschke for her proactive actions for WHS, Emergency Management and OVA with her team. Alice's leadership in these spaces is impressive and the Safety & Wellbeing team wish to recognise Alice and the Med 3 team.

Shout out to the Maternity and Perioperative Nursing/Anaesthetic/Surgical teams for their efforts this week. 25 births since Monday including 15 Caesars. A huge team effort ensuring the best experience for all of these families.

14-Sep-23
Shout out to ADON Tracy, Subacute nurses, DPU staff, environmental staff, and porters for managing well in a difficult situation Wednesday night and Thursday morning. It is amazing how everyone involved stepped up to the challenge and provided patient centred care. 

13-Sep-23
Shout out to AWH staff who spoke at the Hume at Home expo in Wangaratta yesterday about the amazing work completed using the Better at Home funding opportunities. This included Glenda Chapman (HARP), Sarah Potter (SITH) and Aretha Stripeikis (HITH)

Big thanks from Birth suite to Cindy and her team at Nolan for their wonderful support regarding one of our complex care patients

12-Sep-23
Big thanks to Elouise Casey & Diane Davey who gave generously of their time & expertise to the Community Palliative Care team over the past few weeks to support their service planning work.  Elouise & Di's facilitation supported the team to map out the service priorities & workflows to identify key actions for the next 12-months. Important work for the team who continue to manage a significant increase in demand for their services.
  
Shout out to Shannon Larkin for her clever NSQHS Education display which has been adopted by many of the wards and Theatres across the Perioperative and Surgical Services Division!! - Grace, CSQU

11-Sep-23
Shout out to Cindy and the Nolan house team for their proactive work in quality improvement! - CSQU

Thanks to Dr. John Quinn - med registrar for his flexibility, approachability and support over a very busy weekend.
 

8-Sep-23
A big thank you to Sam Petts, from ICT Applications, for going above and beyond to ensure changes and issue resolution were completed today to enable the BI & Performance team to commence work on some urgent requests. I understand how busy the ICT team are and sincerely appreciate the support. Mark Ursu

7-Sep-23
Wonderful consumer feedback for Albury OT NUMS Claire Phelps and Courtney O'Connell for excellent care and facilitation of emergency work

6-Sep-23
Shout out to Claire Moodie for all her hard work over the past few weeks for delivering urgent reports to Stakeholders (particularly for Accreditation!).

5-Sep-23
Congratulations to Angie Callow CLN at ESAU.  Today she celebrates 40 years at AWH.  During this time, she has been an amazing advocate for her patients and is loved and appreciated by all staff and patients.

Sep-23    

Congratulations to Jo Bowers, MH&W Act, Implementation lead, MH Admin, MH Managers, Clinical Leads, MH staff for the mammoth undertaking of preparing for and changing to the new Victorian MH & Wellbeing Act. It is one of the significant changes recommended by the Vic. Royal Commission into MH.  The new MH&W Act has a greater focus on Human Rights, Dignity & Autonomy, supported decision making, Family, carers and kin, and recognition of Lived Experience. The Act commences Friday 1st September. Thank you to all MH staff for your commitment to ensure this history making step is embedded in everyday practice.

Recognition of the Infection Control team for the great education run on surgical wards for PIVC - teams found this highly impactful and created lots of banter!

31-Aug-23    
Shout out to SITH team for admitting 4 community patients in August and preventing hospital admissions.  Some excellent outcomes.  Well done team!

30-Aug-23    
Shout out to Anthea Edwards and Rehab Ward team for their participation in yesterdays Evacuation Drill with the Safety & Wellbeing team. Great turn out and participation. 

23-Aug-23    
A big shout out to all our Social Workers who have been working extremely hard supporting patients, their families and the ED's/Wards. A specific mention to Gemma, Bette, Rhi and Harley for working above and beyond across different sites to support demand. Thank-you for your teamwork and dedication, it is appreciated.

22-Aug-23    
Border Mail Letter to Editor - I took my husband to the Albury Base Hospital emergency department on Tuesday. The doctor, nurses and all staff were professional, kind, efficient and caring. At all times, they kept me fully informed about his condition and also looked after me. I would like to acknowledge that even in the challenges and busy-ness of their work environment, the team carried out their job to the highest standard. We are very fortunate to have this wonderful service. 
Gwen Lavis, Bungowannah

21-Aug-23
Tayla Byrne Admin team member at ACHC assisted a client last week who presented in an unsafe & complicated situation - Her kindness & focus on his wellbeing was everything we want our services to be.  Thanks Tayla

Recognition of excellence for our Speech Pathology Team. This week is SP week. SP are experts in the management of speech and swallow - give your speechy's a high 5 as you see them this week.                                                                                                                    

18-Aug-23
Recognition of Tim Malone, Karen Carlisle and the Wodonga Theatre & DPU team for managing significant disruption yesterday with the generator issues which resulted in patients being rescheduled and all 3 theatres and both procedure rooms running into the evening. The teams showed great resilience and care for the patients who were impacted while also supporting those patients requiring emergency or urgent care to receive their surgery.

Huge thanks and shout out to the team who have worked around the clock to test the power supply at Wodonga campus including Shaun, Cade, Ed, Mark, Vishnu, Anthony, Dan, Leanne, Flick and teams.  Great teamwork and commitment to keeping our patients safe.

Thanks to Shiree Panozzo and the dialysis team for managing the significant disruption to service today and ensuring we continue to provide safe care for our patients.

16-Aug-23
Well done to the OT & DPU teams at Wodonga who ran the first concurrent cataract lists yesterday.  These lists will help increase the number of patients receiving cataract surgery of which there is a long waiting list.  Great job team!!!

15-Aug-23
Recognising our amazing team of neonatal nurses in the Special Care Nursery on International Neonatal Nurses Day!! They do an amazing job in taking care of our tiniest patients and their families!

A shout out to nurses Elise, Tayla, Lauren & Gabi and Dr Erin in ED who were involved in the management of two complex Paediatric oncology patients on Friday last. Their attention to detail, kindness, and desire to provide safe and excellent outcomes was so appreciated by all involved. Thanks so very much.

14-Aug-23
Recognition to Glenda Beecher and team for their professionalism, responsiveness and helpful information for all aspects of employee relations. It is highly appreciated throughout the organisation!

Thanks to the Acute team, Nurses and ward clerk on Sunday whose prompt action and cooperation with the ADON prevented a patient breech.
Huge shout out to Dr Jet O'Keefe and CCRN Kylie Felton, who delivered an AWH Inclusion and Diversity Day on Fri 11th Aug, bringing subject matter experts in to discuss Gender Diversity, First Nations Health, Refugee Health and vulnerabilities of consumers needing MH & AOD services. Opened by Exec Dir P&C, Bec Jhonston, they day was a huge success enjoyed by all participants and presenters. All efforts will benefit these vulnerable groups of patients connecting with our health service.                                                                                                

11-Aug-23    
Shout out to Leanne Wegener and her Team in Acute ward Wodonga for their proactive work in helping staff feel ready for accreditation!! - CSQU

10-Aug-23    
Shout out to Matt Tolsher (OT) for recently covering the non-weight bearing pathway service as well as his own role and several others across the health service. Outstanding support of his team and our patients. 

9-Aug-23    
Well done to Claire Phelps and the theatre team at Albury for organising and hosting a great farewell for Dr Gerard Fogarty last Friday. Enjoyed by all especially the man of the moment.

8-Aug-23    
Positive feedback from a paediatric registrar - Thank you for the opportunity to come and work at AWH. It has been a wonderful experience. I have learnt a lot and feel I am leaving as a more confident and more competent doctor. The overall culture at AWH is amazing and it really feels like everyone is a team from the doctors, to nurses, ward clerks, security, cleaners ect. It has been nice to work somewhere where it feels like everyone is trying to work together and do their best. 

7-Aug-23    
Well done to Jaclyn Allwood, Physio and hand therapist, who received lovely email feedback from a consumer for her care, expertise and detailed handover to the GP. Both the client and GP were very impressed!
Thank you to all the nurses and Doctors from Medical Ward 3. Two and a half weeks of hard times made a little easier by you all. You were amazing' - From the family of a patient that passed away last week on Med Ward 3.

6-Aug-23    
Thank you to Katie our diabetic NP, I work with maternity patients who Katie assists with their diabetes issues, she goes out of her way (and hours) to assist them to manage their changing insulin requirements and challenges with pregnancy, only last week in WSU we had an older  woman present via ED who does not speak English and could not read, a real challenge for a newly diagnosed diabetic, Katie worked with the family and was  even calling them in the evening  at home so she could assist them with the new requirements of understanding how to change the insulin requirements based on Blood sugars.  That was an amazing reassurance to the staff who were concerned about this woman going home.  THANK YOU KATIE.

4-Aug-23

Well done to Jaclyn Allwood, Physio and hand therapist, who received lovely email feedback from a consumer for her care, expertise and detailed handover to the GP. Both the client and GP were very impressed!

1-Aug-23

Shout out to Ed King and the infrastructure team for work with GenesisCare (GC) for the LINAC upgrade project which is now in it's final stages. From the GC lead: "I want to express my sincere gratitude to the AWH staff for their superb cooperation throughout this transition. You have all been incredibly approachable and supportive throughout.                                                                                                       

Big shout out to the Wodonga CSSD staff members Mary Ann and Doris last night coping with multiple emergency cases and changes of set ups needed to accommodate order of emergencies.

31-Jul-23

Congratulations to Cass Juric and the Sharepoint project team on their work to kickstart the development of the Daphne replacement! This is a massive effort to move away from one of our legacy systems, for the benefit of all AWH staff. Well done Cass & team.

28-Jul-23    
Huge thank you to everyone who supports PSS Division. FY 22/23 AWH has done the most amount of surgical activity on record. This is something which has not been achieved by any one individual, but collective effort across divisions and teams. Thank you to everyone involved, from theatre teams, EASU, CSSD, medical, AH, Surgical wards, wardsmen, etc! Achieving this amongst increasing emergency demand, AOU in our DPU and ED redevelopment is a massive achievement and a reflection of AWH ability to step up for our community despite the disruptions and challenges!

27-Jul-23    
Thanks to everyone who helped with yesterdays external controlled drugs audit (Both EDs, Rehab, Obs, Med 2, Surg 1 & Nolan) special thanks to Bridget Waters (Surg 1) and Rincy Sijo (Med 2) for providing interview responses to the auditors. Hoping to share the positive outcomes of this audit soon.  Josh - Pharmacy

26-Jul-23
Congrats to Craig Gilbertson - ANUM @ Wodonga Operating Theatre for winning the LA Trobe Uni 3 min thesis competition. Great to see our clinical staff being involved in academic partnerships and ongoing research programs. HRT

ICU today has transferred a patient that was admitted on 19/3/2023.  The patient is a young man and has had a very turbulent few months requiring a large amount of input from many areas.  He would not be where he is today without the collaborative teamwork to manage this very complex high acuity patient.  A big shout out to medical staff involved, nursing staff, the wide allied health team with most disciplines involved.  The ward persons group have been integral in the patient management, and many came to see him off as he was transferred to WC Rehab.  To one and all well done great job and we look forward to celebrating with him in the future.        

25-Jul-23
Appreciation to the phenomenal job that Helanna Galanakis in ESAU is doing in the Orthopaedic outpatient management space. Her attention to detail, ability to anticipate and resolve issues and for thought and planning has been paramount in the early success of our outpatient clinics.  

24-Jul-23
Yvonne', a post op elective orthopaedic patient wanted to pass on her thanks and appreciation for Rachelle, Melissa, Holli and Mel for their pre-operative physiotherapy with her via the OAHKS clinic. She has excelled post op and exceeded all recovery expectations. Fabulous recognition for the outpatient Physio team. 

Thank you to Brooke Ford for her commitment and professionalism as Acting Director of Nursing/Midwifery Women's & Children's over the past few months.     

A big thank you to the ADON's for such support  and assistance with staffing of the maternity unit over the weekend, still a big issue today but from Tuesday should improve with thanks to the workforce unit and of course a big thank you to staff who responded to the texts.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Shout out to John Rhodes and the Environmental Services team for rallying to support significant water leaks in the AWRCC on Friday afternoon. Despite the backlog that rolled into Saturday, the team got all hands-on deck to assist."

21-Jul-23    
Shout out the Albury and Wodonga Perioperative teams. 21 Emergency cases completed cross campus with 15 of those being at the Albury side. A collaborate team effort!                                                                                                                   

Elouise Casey for her ongoing willingness to respond, assist and collaborate to achieve positive service improvements across all areas of the organisation (that have nothing to do with her specialist clinic review)!

Shout out to Simon Cannon - biomed: is prompt response, professionalism and thoroughness in seeking solutions to an issue relating to equipment utilised by the SP team is to be commended. Thank you, Simon.     

20-Jul-23    
I would like to recognise the hard work and dedication of the three AWH CSSD Departments. CSSD Teams are always supportive of the theatre staff and making sure they have all instruments available for the daily theatre schedules. Your commitment to supplying high quality instrumentation for our patients and outside clients is to be applauded. 
Also, a big thank you to our CSSD Agency team member Tammy who fit right into both the Wodonga and Albury CSSD departments. Your help over the last few months has been much appreciated.
                                                                                                                                                                
18-Jul-23    
A big shout out and congratulations to Elaine Hill (Volunteer Coordinator), Kate Pallot (Cancer Council NSW) and the team at GenesisCare for the "Hilltop - AWRCC transport" solution. This patient-centred solution required a great deal of creativity, perseverance and teamwork. Well done.   

14-Jul-23    
Recognition to the extraordinary efforts of MDT involved in supporting care and disposition of adolescent consumer that had a prolonged stay (193hrs) in Albury ED his week. Thank you for everyone's collaboration and perseverance in ensuring consumer could be cared for safely in the community.

13-Jul-23    
Shout out to the Environmental Services teams - despite increased demand across the service, they maintain our work areas and are friendly faces in our team who we are so grateful for!! 

11-Jul-23 
Shout out to Albury ED team who did an extraordinary job managing extreme demand yesterday, thank you to the teamwork displayed and ensuring that patients waiting prolonged periods in the waiting room were supported.    
                                                      
Thank you and recognition to Sumi and Tracey yesterday for their support and assistance to create additional safe space for patient/care point.     

Thank you to Albury Theatre team, Stuart Heslop and AJ John for being so flexible in supporting a list to move from Albury theatres to Wodonga Theatres to accommodate the overflow to Albury PACU.    

7-Jul-23    
Thank you to Albury Campus OT & Wodonga DPU for supporting Wodonga Theatres with significant staffing shortages due to both teams being called out most of the night. This teamwork resulted in the smooth running of operations at Wodonga Campus. 

5-Jul-23    
Special thanks to Albury ED CNS Murray Collis, who organised Aunty Ruth, a proud first nations woman, to come and speak to ED clinicians during NAIDOC week. We heard how we can improve our understanding and connection with first nations patients and their families as they present for care.                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Claire King has been the Wodonga ED & COU Acting NUM for 3 months and has really thrived in this position - thank you Claire!                                                            

4-Jul-23    
Angela Crosswell (Physio) for escalating care rapidly and appropriately to ENT registrar. The patient who had a laryngectomy required removal of a significant plug as he was verging on respiratory distress. Recognition of scope of practice and humidification was not going to resolve the issue.

3-Jul-23    

We like to recognise the efforts of Claire Moodie, Syed Ahmad and Wendy Sutcliffe to analyze, plan and execute a manual update of VITAL code-sets to bring the system into alignment with regulatory changes that came into effect on July 1. This task has been over 3 months in the making and was successfully implemented between Friday and Monday. 
 

29-Jun-23          

Congratulations & thank you to the COVID Consult team who will retire the DHHS COVID Positive Pathway remote monitoring program this week.  The final stages of the program have been strongly led by our NUM Sophia Damm & a small dedicated & skilled team.  The clinic was established in 2020 with 15 patients, in 2021 they cared for over 1000 & in 2022 & 2023 they have provided support to another 800.  The clinic has been supported by almost all divisions of our organisation- our ID physicians, community Allied Health & Nursing teams, community administration teams, medical workforce, ICT teams, biomedical engineering, People & Culture & our executive team.  Thank you to everyone for their contributions & we wish our current team all the very best!                                                  

A big shout out to the birthing suite, paed reg and OT Wodonga, four emerg LSCS between 5pm and 2100 yesterday evening, with 1 PPH, 5 off sick for night shift a big thank you for staff helping out AvU

27-Jun-23          

Shout out to Wodonga ED who last Friday morning, triaged, assessed and managed the care of one of our local paediatric oncology patients so beautifully. This patient has hospital-based trauma due to 3 surgeries to resect a brain tumor. His mum was so grateful to all involved – stating she could not fault the Wodonga ED team who were amazing.

26-Jun-23          

Proud day for the Sarah's of Subacute. Sarah Kellet took out Silver and Bronze in the World Kettle Bell Power lifting in Budapest, Hungary....Sarah Potter has been appointed to the Editorial Board for JARNA, Australasia. Well done!

25-Jun-23          

Wodonga ED were amazing today.  They released a staff member to be I/C in COU, worked an extremely busy shift with 1 staff member down, were efficient and a pleasure to work with.  Thank you, Sim and team.

22-Jun-23    
Congratulations to the Public Health Unit's collaboration efforts as they work to finish off a first for our region. A comprehensive Population Health Needs Assessment into the health and wellbeing of their catchment (Towong, Alpine, Indigo, Wangaratta and Wodonga and a cheeky sojourn over the border into Federation, Greater Hume, and Albury). Thanks to all involved over a 12-month sprint! Onya Team!

21-Jun-23    
Big shout out to Medical Ward 3 team yesterday with 7 out of 9 patients discharged, this combined with 43 days Falls free.  Your teamwork and the way you provided patient centred care to each patient does not go unnoticed. Thank you!

Congratulations to all those who participated in the NUM Leadership Program and presented their strategic workforce improvement initiatives. There were fantastic examples of some well thought out and impactful solutions and learnings. (MW1, SW1 & 2, ESAU, Acute, Dialysis, WC DPU, PHU and the Cath Lab)    

20-Jun-23    
Thanks to the Theatre, DPU & Paediatric ward staff who worked together to ensure that NO children were cancelled from yesterday's paediatric surgery list.  Great multi-disciplinary collaboration and teamwork  

19-Jun-23    
Shout out to our Albury ADONs and FMS teams for assisting with the I-Med MRI crane life and insertion on Saturday morning. All went off without a hitch!

16-Jun-23    
Well done to the ICT and F&MS teams who worked to seamlessly upgrade the battery backup system which protects the Wodonga Data Center on Wednesday night.

15-Jun-23    
Shout out to Donna, Diedre, Jenn, Nat and Nicole in Administration for support service delivery and resourcing challenges across the last week or so. 
It is inspiring to see the support, optimism and commitment to our frontline staff and the wider health service.

13-Jun-23    
Recognition to Michelle Damm, our Wellbeing Nurse who works in the school system identifying and coordinating health care linkages for students and their families. 
She has had such a positive impact on a student in one of the primary schools that they're completing an out-of-zone application in order to attend one of the high schools that Michelle also works in. 
Michelle's role has had brilliant feedback from students, families, teachers and principals since its inception in October last year.

6-Jun-23    
Great work by the Speech Pathology, nursing and AH teams on ICU and Surg 2 to coordinate education and equipment for a patient being D/C home with a trachea - all done within 1 week.

2-Jun-23    
Huge shoutout to Sam Peet - Paediatric NUM who after working her regular rostered day, returned to work a nightshift to cover unplanned leave in Paediatrics. This supported the team and ensured safe patient care - Thanks Sam!!

31-May-23    
Excellent feedback from NSW Ambulance Service regarding Albury ED Team Leaders ability to maintain flow and Ambulance Offloads in such challenging conditions in the last couple of days.

30-May-23    
Thank you to the Good Samaritan who handed my phone into ABH ED yesterday morning. I dropped it walking from the East St carpark to AWRCC.  It is both my work and personal phone so very much appreciated!  (from an AWRCC staff member)

29-May-23    
The Community Rehabilitation Team and Allied Health would like to acknowledge Marion Vile who is retiring on June 1st after a wonderful 42-year career as a Speech Pathologist. Maz started her career at the Albury Base Hospital in 1981. She worked at SWBIRS for many years and lectured at CSU. Maz has spent the last 12 years of her career dedicated to providing the highest quality service to the Community Rehabilitation Clients and team at AWH. Maz volunteers her time to many great causes that she is passionate about, like the local Aphasia Choir. We wish Maz all the best in her retirement and thank her for her years of service to our Clients, our Organisation and our Community.

25-May-23

A big thank you to Sue (environmental services Wodonga) for using her language skills to assist a patient with everyday communication. Really helps make life easier.

24-May-23

Thanks to those who presented at the study day for the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses Association on Friday

23-May-23

Huge thanks to Wodonga CSD team leader Trish Gabriel who came in on Sunday night to support ALBURY theatre whose endoscopy reprocessing was affected.

22-May-23

For Palliative Care Week I would like to recognise the amazing work completed by all our wonderful palliative care staff in the community and inpatient areas.

17-May-23    

I would like to make mention of my experience with the Albury Hospital Radiology Department on Friday the 5th. 
I am a nurse in the CL Psychiatry Department, and I supported a patient for an extensive period for multiple scans. 
I noted a high degree of professionalism and flexibility among the staff. 
I was impressed at the level of empathy and compassion that I witnessed, and this led to a personalised experience for the patient and resulted in excellent outcomes. 
I walked away feeling genuinely grateful to work within a team that includes the individuals I worked with on that day. 
- Erin Menhennitt

15-May-23    

Great job by the Kim White's EDON team and comms team who put together & published the international nurses day stories. They were on high rotation on social media all weekend.  Great positive exposure. Cupcakes were appreciated by the teams and yummy!! HRT 

Shout out to Wodonga ED staff who managed a person requiring cardioversion with great care and skill. The 'local grapevine' reports nothing but praise and appreciation for the care provided in a stressful time for the family.                                          

15 May -23

I would just like to Thank Elaine, Sharon and her Volunteer Drivers. Without the help and support of Rob, John and David this week I would've spent many hours and trips back and forth from Wodonga to Wangaratta. Their assistance is very much appreciated, and I am truly grateful that we can call on our AWH Volunteers when needed. So, a big "Thank you" from me to our Volunteer Drivers. - Thanks, Chritine from Fleet.

12-May-23    

Recognising Hannah Wells Physiotherapist in Community Rehabilitation Program for her commitment to our tertiary student experience, flexibility and 'can do' attitude. A tertiary student presented to site Monday morning ready for placement at AWH with a service that had had recent staffing change, the supervisor originally allocated was no longer available. Hannah agreed to supervise the student for the 4-week placement and arranged for learning opportunities to start straight away for the student to get the most out of the placement. Thanks Hannah!    

A massive shout out to Sue Grubisa from Wodonga Environmental Services team. Sue has been assisting in rehab with translation and support for a patient resulting in Sue recently providing her time to attend an offsite appointment to assist! 

11-May-23    
Acknowledgement to those involved in the breast reconstruction plastics case on Wednesday 10/05. It was a very long day for the operative & anaesthetic teams - 13hrs.  Theatre and PACU provided wonderful organisation and care on the day and S1 provided high level care and support for the patient in the post operative phase.  Lots of organisation leading up to the case ensured smooth admission process.  Big thanks :)

10-May-23    
Shout out to Cath Lab Team who despite being 3 staff down, stayed back for OT to do 4 extra emergencies including a STEMI, 2 x NSTEMI from both Albury & Wodonga ED's. A beautiful example of teamwork and patient-centred care 🙂

9-May-23    
Anne-Marie Daw, Clinical & Health Psychologist at AWRCC. Anne-Marie is very client centred and despite her heavy workload, she willingly makes time to provide a professional consult to staff as required. Anne-Marie is a quiet achiever and a very supportive team member. 
                                                   
8-May-23
Thanks to the Nolan House team - Leanne & the psychiatric medical staff for their patient centered, thorough approach to the review of the five MH admissions in the AC ED and ultimately creating safe capacity in the ICA for an admission.       
                                                   
Thanks to TOM the med reg for his engagement in patient flow and for doing after lunch rounds with the ADON to create discharges in the medical wards on SUNDAY. A shout out to the theatre nursing, anesthetic and orthopedic team on SUNDAY who managed a critically ill trauma patient amazingly and prepared them for urgent ARV transfer out with great compassion and respect for the patient's family.                                 

Monday 1 May    

• A huge shout out to the TTP team for their willingness and support in staffing multiple areas last week to support the CODE yellow.  Shout out to the amazing Quality & safety team for their supports with additional rounding in the ED waiting rooms during code yellow last week. 

Tuesday 2 May

• A thank you to Marissa from Med 3 for all of the additional workload she took on during Code Yellow including the discharges from Access and Flow and all other adhoc tasks that were requested of her.

Previous Weeks

Monday 19 December

• Thanks heaps to Pall Care Staff (Bek & Sonia), Gina (Foundation Manager) and Pall Care Volunteers who worked solidly from 5-9.30pm last night to sell candles at the Wodonga Carols by Candlelight. We think our fundraising goal was met! All involved worked consistently for the full 4.5 hours.

Tuesday 20 December

• Thank you to all the Paediatric ward staff, wards people, admin, theatre, anaesthetics and recovery staff for the collaborative effort to get 16 paediatric day procedure patients (and their carers) into the ward on Monday 19th December. This was a big effort with a lot of planning and resourceful thinking. Especially when the paediatric ward was also busy with medical patients and having admissions from ICU and ED at the same time. Great teamwork by all.

Wednesday 21 December

• Wodonga Community Palliative Care have worked with care and team support to manage an exhausting week with reduced staffing, 6 deaths from Sat 17/12-Wed 21/12 and a large number of deteriorating clients. They have been wonderfully supported by Wodonga DNS, Beechworth DNS and the East Hume Regional Palliative Care Consultancy Service. I would like to thank all teams involved for their hard work in enabling people to receive care and die in their place of choice during an emotionally draining time of year.

Thursday 22 December

• My own journey through AWH as a patient has in a word been excellent. All staff from ESAU, Theatre team, Surg2, PLO, medical staff and catering and CRC staff in particular Ann were all wonderful. Thanks so much to all. I have been a long standing private medical insurance as a patient in a public hospital and this experience reinforced my faith in our service and I could not have asked for better care. Thanks all. PJ

Friday 23 December

• A MASSIVE shout out to the superstars that enabled the Thank You lunches this week. Honour role includes: Michelle Smith, Leah Cassidy, Mary Semmens and the Food Services Team, Rijo Jacob, and Nathan Bright.

Tuesday 6 December

• Big shout out to Emma Quirk (SP) for her work in supporting the SP service in Albury last week as well as the wider SP team for showing compassion and support to each other in a challenging week for Speech Pathology.

Wednesday 7 December

• To Emma Chant, Del Neilson and the entire MDT after a successful transition on a long-term patient yesterday from Med Ward 1.

Friday 9 December

• Congratulations to the Transit lounge team who have facilitated 113 patients through the new lounge since opening on the 15th of November. Sensational effort!

Thursday 15 December

• Congratulations to Jake, Sarah and the whole Blackwood team on a glowing accreditation report card. A huge thank you goes to the dedicated staff that support & care for the residents of Blackwood each and every day, your work is appreciated. Julie Wright (Acting Exec DON/M)

Friday 16 December

• Meredith James is departing AWH on 22 December. She has filled numerous roles over her time in the organisation. Whilst at Organisational Development, she has brought an incredible energy to the role. Her influence has reached every corner of People and Culture and she leaves a legacy that extends AWH. 

Wednesday 28 December

• High praise and gratitude to the obstetric team, theatre team & ADON at Wodonga who supported a critical risk obstetric patient. Everyone displayed empathy, patience, care and situational awareness which resulted in safe delivery of babies & care to the mother.

Thursday 29 December

• Thanks to Fiona Pilkington for her leadership of Kerferd Unit over Christmas - managing the onset of the COVID outbreak in a calm and logical manner. 

Tuesday 3 January

• Shout out to Anthony Rodgers, John Rhodes, and the Environmental Services staff at Wodonga Campus who solved clinical waste issues on New Year's Eve and Day!

Wednesday 4 January

• Big shout out to everyone who worked over the Christmas and New Year's period, as we worked together through the 4th COVID wave. Thank you!
• Also, a big shout out also to Julie Wright who has been acting as the EDNM over the last 6 months. Julie has done a fantastic job and has been a great support to so many people including myself as CEO. Julie will remain working on several key priorities within the executive office as Kim White takes up the role as Chief Nursing & Midwifery.

Thursday 5 January

• Thanks to 6 radiotherapy department clinical and technical staff who worked back very late yesterday, to accommodate a patient having curative intent treatment who had been delayed in chemo day ward due to larger than normal post-holidays patient load.

Monday 9 January

• Shout out to the Food Services and Environmental Services team in banding together to achieve service delivery last week when faced with significant staff shortages.

Friday 13 January

• CEO shout out and thanks to Michelle Hudson and Alex Scott for considerable comms work in the lead up to announcement 12/1 re the Albury Wodonga Region Colonoscopy Recall.
• Also, thanks to Linda Hudec and Tania Limbrick for their contribution to and support of the response.

Monday 16 January

• Shout out to Carrie TAYLOR, John RHODES, and Kaylene ROGERS for assisting with Environmental Services works on Sunday. A great team effort by all!

Tuesday 17 January

• Shout out to Wayne from Wodonga campus Engineering who found a portable air conditioner to address the high temperature issues in the education kruss office. This made a BIG difference to our workspace and is greatly appreciated. Thanks Trevor!
  Also thanks to James who came to the office first thing today to examine the cause and hopefully fixed the problem

Tuesday 24 January

• The following email was received recognising the wonderful work of Palliative Care OT, Mick Dobson - I would like to pass along a note of recognition and sincere appreciation for the amazing work of Mick Dobson.  I found out late on Wednesday last week that a CRC client of mine was in crisis, and urgently required a sling hoist at home (despite having no funds to pay for it and CRC having no cost centre with Aidacare to use a portal).  Mick quickly advocated the case with his contacts at Aidacare, and was able to organise for a free hire of a sling lifter, which was delivered on Friday.  My client is beyond appreciative of having access to this piece of equipment to assist them through the current crisis.  Mick’s caring nature, collaboration and advocacy for this client and their needs is an outstanding representation of the values of our organisation and I am very grateful for his assistance.

Friday 27 January

• Massive thanks to PJ and James from FMS for the support to Wodonga Food Services and the 'oven ordeal' greatly apprecaite the out-of-the-box thinking and timely action.

Tuesday 31 January

• Well done to the HITH and SITH teams for working closely together to care for patients in their homes and keeping them out of hospital. Great teamwork! The SITH team admitted the first two community patients, freeing up 2 beds.
• Michelle Waller for going above and beyond in your assistance to the Acute team today many thanks.

Thursday 2 February

• Thanks Jacqueline Jones and Annie Lee for working together to arrange for a high priority client to be seen in an appropriate timeframe when there is currently high demand for services, being very client focused, I expect that their teamwork will avoid an unnecessary admission.

Monday 6 February

• A massive shout out to Timothy Malone and the Wodonga and Albury theatre and DPU teams for the incredible amount of work undertaken to commence the recall scope lists

• A massive shout out to Linda Hudec and Gerry Balnaves for their leadership of the delivery of the Albury Wodonga Region Colonoscopy Recall (AWRCR) - huge effort and a great credit to AWH. Thank you.

Tuesday 7 February

• From an email from NHW in regard to the work Dr Kae Sheen Wong does with the East Hume Regional Palliative Care Consultancy Service - I am passing on recent recognition of Kae for her support of our community palliative care team. Our team is experiencing significant service demand combined with staffing deficits at the moment and Kae’s willingness to provide practical support actually also provides psychological support to the team as well. I frequently receive excellent feedback regarding Kae. She has been a wonderful addition to the Consultancy Team. Thank you Kae for your kindness and support to the team! You are just wonderful.

Thursday 16 February

• Shout out to Corporate Records who work tirelessly and quietly processing our policies and procedures. In the Safety & Wellbeing space in particular we lean on them all the time to process requests for us. Very thankful for our Corporate Record colleagues. 

Friday 24 February

• Big shout out to Tahlia Wilson (SP) for organising and setting up for the pride morning tea on Wednesday. It was a great event and there has been such positive feedback. Well done, Tahlia! ​🙂

Tuesday 21 February

• Thanks to HCT STS for supporting CN team with demand during unplanned staff leave!

Monday 20 February

• Shout out to Corporate Records who work tirelessly and quietly processing our policies and procedures. In the Safety & Wellbeing space in particular we lean on them all the time to process requests for us. Very thankful for our Corporate Record colleagues.

Monday 27 February

• Excellent patient centred care and interdisciplinary collaboration in Wodonga ED to safely discharge adolescent with complex social crisis on Day 2 of ED stay. HUGE shout out to ED ANUM Dave, RN Georgie, SW Rhiannan & Dr Zeena!!

Tuesday 28 February

• A massive shout out to the ADON team for the fantastic, patient centred care demonstrated across the weekend. The increased demand and the traumatic events of Saturday was taken on and dealt with in stride. Thank you for all you do.

Wednesday 1 March

• Congratulations to Naomi Mason in the Community Pall Care Team, Steve Pitman (prior CPC team member), Anne Duncan (Older Person's NP) and members of the ASET team - Mick O'Shea, Jacinta Flood & Mindy Kirk, for the publication of the research they completed into the Cristal prognostic tool - identifying poor prognosis in older Pt's in ED's. This has been published in the Feb issue of the International Journal of Palliative Nursing.
• Huge thanks to the theatre NUM's and ALL staff (nursing & medical) at both operating theatres & DPU's for the amazing work they completed yesterday. Over 20 patients received timely surgical care on emergency surgery lists at both Wodonga and Albury. Thank you for everything you all do to care for our patients and each other.

Thursday 2 March

• I would like to recognise Kate Robinson’s (Cancer Care Coordinator at AWRCC), client centred practice. Kate always speaks respectfully to the client and is very committed to ensuring services are provided in the most empowering way and is keen to provide health education in a way that can be understood by the client.
• Shout out to Ben Engel, AWRCC Wellness Centre Coordinator for his professionalism and person centred approach with dealing with a complex incident that involved multiple areas across AWRCC. Well done, Ben!

Friday 3 March

• Thank you all involved with the d/c of a complex patient off the rehab ward yesterday. Ben from pharmacy, Charmaine and the ALO team, social workers Gemma and Kim and other allied health members, Lyn and all the nurses and ward support services and the medical team. Also, thanks to COU for their collaboration and contribution to the plan.

Tuesday 7 March

• Shoutout to Pat and the AH team for assisting with a temporary Aidacare bed storage solution at Albury Campus. Being able to find alternative solutions and to address corridor/egress storage of equipment that is a significant risk. Well done Pat!

Friday 10 March

• Excellent collaboration between MH & Albury ED teams for 2 days with ongoing care delivery and planning for a vulnerable child needing a metropolitan inpatient admission.

Tuesday 14 March

• Excellence and persistence of Biomedical Services team to deliver the Fluoroscopy replacement ($520k under the 21/22 Medical Equipment Replacement Program) to achieve staged completion across several years but ending up ahead of schedule and on budget, thus achieving full funding from the program
• Thank you to Leanne Post who has delivered Diabetes Education services for our community in Albury for the past 15 years - Leanne has been successful in a new appointment as WHIN Coordinator for MLHD & finishes with us this week.  Leanne has been an excellence team member at ACHC & is held in high regard for her professional practice & client focussed care.  Her passion & leadership for DE services in the community has improved the care for many people in our community living with Diabetes.   We wish her every happiness in her new role & thank her for all her contributions to the service.

Wednesday 15 March

• A shout out to the hardworking and personable Albury Allied Health administration team! Despite an array of unpredictable (and sometimes difficult) conversations and interactions….each and every day they display respect, empathy, kindness and ongoing patience with patients!

Thursday 16 March

• Recognition of the enduring work Georgia Spence and her P&C colleagues contribute to with our Allied Health recruitment. Georgia always makes the time to ensure our issues are responded to quickly and puts in an enormous amount of effort to ensure timely outcomes to sometime very complex situations. We really enjoy you being part of our team Georgia!
• Shout out to Leigh Merchant, Kelly Samson, Lisa Nixon, Ash Shanahan and the rest of the Optima team for their amazing support with the parallel run.

Monday 3 April

• Endoscopy recall project at Wodonga is winding down.  Congratulations and thanks to all of the teams that have helped support this effort and the patients involved.  Big shout out to Wodonga DPU, theatre and CSD for the operational works and to Gerry Balnaves as the project manager.e.

Tuesday 4 April

• We would like to recognise the work of the Palliative Care Administration Team. In particular, Jade Schepis, who managed a number of challenging and emotional phone calls from the general public on a very busy Monday. She demonstrated maturity, compassion and empathy in her responses and ensured all calls were directed appropriately and followed up by the required staff.

Wednesday 5 April

• Community rehabilitation multi-disciplinary team that provides care to a client with a progressive condition who sadly passed away this week. The team included Amanda Robertson (OT), Geoff Draper (PT), Marion Vile (SP), Natasha Saunders (SW) and Lisa Larkins (DT). Feedback was received from family and a partnering support service that CRC's interventions and support allowed the family to provide care at home for a duration of which they were proud. CRC supported with the timely transition to respite and permanent care. Thanks for the wonderful support provided to this client and all of our client.

Thursday 6 April

• Enormous thank you to Jo Owen who finishes up as the COVID Consult Clinic NUM this week.  Jo has been a great asset to the COVID Monitor program, working with the DHS COVID Monitor taskforce & HHSP to negotiate the COVID Monitor program for our community & leading the team through the transitions of the program always with a keen sense of purpose & positive energy.  Promoting the team's skill & capacity to support other remote monitoring initiatives including work with the Colonoscopy Recall program.  We will miss her but are excited to see her taking up a new role in Pediatric Oncology & wish her every success & happiness.  

Thursday 13 April

• Shout out to Claire Moodie, Gabrielle Law & Wendy Sutcliffe for their support in assiting with navigating & achieving data upload to Children's Health Care Australasia. Huge appreciation & thanks. Julie Wright

Friday 14 April

• Congratulations to all at Blackwood for providing "an amazing and positive placement at Blackwood....the residents are lucky to have such a great team caring for them"- feedback from a recent nursing student who attend placement at Blackwood. 

Monday 17 April

• I would like to recognise Palliative Care Nurse, Christine Waters, who used her training and knowledge this morning to manage a medical emergency at a local childcare centre until ambulance arrived.

Tuesday 18 April

• Big thankyou to both Surg regs, Efang & Jorge. Went above and beyond for the care of multiple patients within Wodonga ED over the last few days. Including one very sick patient, who was urgently transferred out - We are your biggest fans Wodonga ED.

Wednesday 19 April

• Medical Wards for the ability to move in and out of N95 Marks and surgical masks without issue depending on COVID + patients admitted to the wards.

Friday 21 April

• A huge thank you to Bianca Gallo who not only did a full day of community Nursing (SMOLLETT STREEET) but also responded to all the stomal calls as one of our Stoma nurses has had unplanned leave. What a trooper. Job well done.
• A big thank you to Leah Wiseman who finishes up as one of our senior operational leaders today.  Leah has contributed significant leadership & change over the past 18 years with our health service.  She has been an excellent colleague & champion for our patients & the teams she has led.  We wish her every happiness in her next chapter

Monday 24 April

• Ailie McMaster, one of our allied health assistants in Wodonga volunteered recently to be the AWH representative at the Catholic College Industry careers expo. She did this in her own time, after hours and we are so thrilled that she was there to represent AWH and the AHA team in promoting this career to the students. 

Thursday 28 April

• Thank you to the AWRCC concierges Bev and Kevin and to Ed King and the cleaning team for dealing with the graffiti at the cancer center so quickly and efficiently yesterday.