Adj Assoc Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive, MN Health
It was great to attend Caboolture Hospital this week with our Chief Operating Officer Jane Hancock and hear about the interactive commissioning plans for the new buildings. I’d like to thank the team there for their work to date. There are a lot of people and teams contributing this this exciting venture which will have significant benefits for the local community.
Jane and I also had a listening post at The Prince Charles Hospital this week. Thank you to everyone who came along and shared your thoughts. Next week we’ll be at the Sandgate Dental Clinic.
The Board Chair and I held our first joint vidcast of the year on Wednesday. There were a lot of questions and it’s great to see people so engaged in what’s happening across Metro North. The 2023 Have your Say staff survey will be in May and I strongly encourage all staff to take the time to share your feedback about your workplace and our organisation in general.
We have finalised selection for 20 people to participate in the 9th Executive Leaders Program (ELP). This time we have people from across Queensland as well as New South Wales Health. We recognise there is a development gap between the Leadership Essentials (LEMP) program and ELP so we’re looking at options for those who have completed LEMP but are not looking at moving into an executive director role within a few years.
Yesterday my office had a small morning tea for National Close the Gap Day with some delicious bush tucker flavours. I hope wherever you are you had the opportunity to acknowledge this important day. Across Metro North we are working to close the gap in health outcomes and achieve health equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Wednesday this week was World Dementia Awareness Day. Please keep in mind that the Metro North Behavioural Emergency Response Team (BERT) are here to support staff who are caring for people with behaviours of concern. They can be contacted 24/7 on 1300 024 404.
Next week is Harmony Week and Tuesday is Harmony Day. Metro North has a culturally diverse workforce and community and we are committed to ensuring that all people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are provided with culturally safe, respectful and equitable services. You can find resources on the Multicultural Health intranet page including this poster which says hello in a variety of languages.
Tuesday is also World Social Work Day. Chief Allied Health Practitioner Mark Butterworth and I will be meeting with social workers across Metro North via Teams to thank them. Social workers contribute in a diverse range of healthcare contexts including acute, subacute and community-based care, across a range of clinical services, responding to psychosocial issues such as grief and loss, child protection, domestic and family violence, and future care planning for residential aged care.
The staff flu vaccination program will commence in most directorates on Monday 24 April. The northern hemisphere experience was exceptionally virulent so please roll up your sleeve and stay safe. Details of the vaccination clinics will be available closer to the launch.
We received some lovely feedback this week from the father of last week’s Facebook Friday baby, Pepper:
‘Thank you so incredibly much to the amazing maternity staff at Redcliffe hospital. Jenna and I haven’t stopped telling people how awesome you all are! Pepper is home now and doing really well. Jenna’s already looking forward to having our next baby so we can come and have another “vacation” with you all. We are so grateful for all of your support. Thank you.’
Happy St Patrick’s Day to those staff celebrating today.
Kind regards,
Jackie.