Angie Dobbrick
2021 has thrown us its fair share of challenges, but the CKW Directorate has tackled every one of them. Through perseverance, we have found opportunities in every difficulty we have faced and now we can look back on our resilience and success and celebrate all that we have achieved.
Our new Clinical Services Building, multi-storey carpark and the new BEMS building are quickly taking shape. Operational commissioning is also well underway and our new Service Readiness team is working hard to ensure our workforce and clinical aspects are ready once the Clinical Services Building achieves practical completion, which is only 13 months away! Work on the new Caboolture, Bribie Island and Pine Rivers satellite hospitals is also due to get started early next year.
For me, one of the true highlights has been your ability and strength to rally together to protect the health of the Queensland community against COVID-19 and deliver tens of thousands of vaccinations. We’ve now started delivering booster shots, providing even more protection for our staff and community.
The annual Staff Excellence Awards recently were also a real highlight. It was wonderful to celebrate our success and showcase the important work we deliver with colleagues and friends.
Congratulations to Administration Officer Aimee Brooks who was Highly Commended in the Values In Action category.
The inaugural CKW Research Symposium is another wonderful achievement. It was an important step towards embedding a stronger research culture in the CKW Directorate, particularly as our hospital, workforce and services expand.
At Kilcoy Hospital, our medical and nursing staff expanded their critical care clinical skill set to meet the region’s growing demand for a higher level of care. We also celebrated the refurbishment of the Old Nurses Quarters, making it much more comfortable and inviting overnight stay for staff.
Next year, I want to continue strengthening our focus on safety and quality, which includes having the right people, with the right capabilities, in the right job, supported by the right systems and processes. A continued focus on staff wellbeing and organisational culture are also at the top of my list.
We must also sustain our efforts to protect everyone against the worst of COVID-19 which continues to be a key consideration in everything that we do.
Finally, as a lot of us step away over the Christmas break to take some much-needed rest, keep in mind that the hospital will still be busy. Thank you to all those staff who will be working over the Christmas break and through the January school holidays.
I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe new year in 2022!
Take care,
Angie.