Jim McGowan AM, Board Chair
Caboolture Satellite Hospital
On 31 July, with Jane Hancock, Acting Chief Executive, I had the privilege of attending the opening of the Queensland’s first Satellite Hospital at Caboolture. The Premier, the Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk, the Deputy Premier, the Honourable Dr Steven Miles, the Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services and Minister for Women, the Honourable Shannon Fentiman, the local member the Honourable Mark Ryan, Minister for Police, and other local members Ali King (Pumicestone) and Chris Whiting (Bancroft) attended this important event.
The Satellite Hospital is a welcome facility which will take some pressure off the very busy Caboolture Hospital. With around seventy staff now and more in the future, as attendance numbers grow, it will cater for minor injuries and has expanded oral health, mental health, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health capacity. Excitingly, it will also offer sleep studies.
After the official opening, the facility welcomed locals through an open day. The Caboolture Satellite Hospital will welcome its first patients on Thursday 3 August.
Caboolture Clinical Services Building
On Tuesday 25 July, some members of the Metro North Hospital and Health Board had the opportunity to visit the new Clinical Services Building at Caboolture. Progress is well advanced, and it will open later this year. Other Board members visited the Satellite Hospital.
Short Notice Accreditation
At its July meeting, the Board was advised of progress of all our facilities in preparation for Short Notice Accreditation. These preparations have involved a great commitment from a large number of staff. However, these efforts will ensure that we meet the national accreditation standards on an ongoing basis so as our patients and consumers are continually assured of our commitment to patient safety and the quality of our services.
Estimates Hearings
On Friday 4 August, Queensland Health will be subject to the Parliamentary Estimates process. Jane Hancock will represent Metro North and is well prepared for what can be a stressful experience.
In that context, Metro North has finished the financial year with a $1.9 million surplus. While that might seem a substantial amount, it represents 0.04% of our budget of approximately $4 billion; a bit like landing an A380 on a dingy!!!
However, more interesting perhaps is the level of our clinical activity:
- ED presentations: 340,000
- Outpatient Occasions of Care: 3 million
- Hospital in the Home (HITH): 2,600
- Mental Health Occasions of Care: 11,800
- Births: 9,000
- Endoscopy procedures: 34,700
- Elective surgeries: 31,000.
Quotes to consider
I have long been a fan of the great American writer and humourist, Mark Twain (born Samuel Clements, 1835-1910). As child, I loved reading the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn along the Mississippi. (Sorry to you younger people who will have no idea about what I am talking!)
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.”
“My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got.”
Regards,
Jim.