Adj Prof Jackie Hanson, Chief Executive
Metro North is launching our Disability Services Action Plan on Monday with a vidcast at 10am. Yesterday STARS staff received a preview and there will be local events over the next week. I hope you can tune in or attend a local event.
We have already achieved one key action from the plan this week, with an intranet page with staff resources and an internet page for patients and clients with a disability.
International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. With a predominantly female workforce across Metro North, I wanted to profile just a few of the women who make up our organisation
Angela Costello
Angela Costello is an innovation enabler. As Digital Metro North’s Director for Digital Portfolio Services, Angela drives Metro North Health’s digital projects to support clinical and business areas, facilities, and capital works needs.With a background in business, Angela also brings to the role a wealth of experience in government and the health technology sector to her role.“I came to Metro North to work closer with clinical and patient care,” said Angela.“My role focuses on change and innovation, making information and data available to ensure clinicians and business areas have the digital and information technology they need to support the way they work.
Anne-Marie Bouwman
Bringing with her plenty of experience, Anne-Maree Bouwman has stepped into a new role at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH): Director, Performance and Clinical Services Plan.This newly created role is part of the RBWH Executive Leadership Team, supporting driving and monitoring performance across the hospital. It will lead RBWH in strategic and operational planning, working with areas and functions to develop and review service planning and models of care with a key focus on patient, carers, families, staff and organisational need.“The role will be a key stakeholder in hospital priorities including supporting future service developments across the RBWH campus with contemporary models and service delivery,” Anne-Maree said.After more than 20 years in health, and coming from a strong focus on planning, governance and performance, she said she is excited to be in a position to set up new functions and services
Britney, STARS Cadet
Metro North Allied Health Services, along with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Team and AFL SportsReady, have partnered to establish the Metro North Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Allied Health Cadetship Program.Britney got involved in the Cadetship program after it was advertised at her university and recommended to her by fellow student Jaimie. Britney has found the cadetship invaluable for developing communication skills and the ability to quickly adapt to different clinical situations which puts her in great stead for her physio career.
Assoc Prof Lata Vadlamudi and Prof Leonie Calloway
The Metro North Level Up program is about creating equal opportunities for medical women to reach senior roles, levelling up our perceptions, levelling up support and levelling up our gender representation. A/Professor Lata Vadlamudi and Professor Leonie Callaway together have mentored hundreds of women in their respective fields providing support for women as they embark on their medical careers.“It is a fantastic initiative for women to have mentor talk to, to help them progress in their career,” Lata said.“In what can be a vulnerable time for some of these women, they are able to come and talk to me about difficult situations and experiences,” Leonie said.
Dr Emilia Reece
Dr Emilia Reece joined STARS as a Specialist Anaesthetist when the facility opened in 2021. She is currently Acting Clinical Director of Anaesthetics, managing the team of specialist anaesthetists, and collaborating with the multi-disciplinary and Executive teams to ensure safe and high-quality care within procedural services at STARS.Prior to working at STARS, Emilia worked at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, where she completed her fellowship in hepatobiliary and transplant anaesthesia in 2018.Emilia enjoys multiple aspects of working at STARS.“In addition to occupying a beautiful new building, working in a new hospital allows anaesthetists to be involved in the establishment and optimisation of processes, for example when new procedures are introduced. This can be more challenging when working in an established facility,” she said.“I also love the people I work with at STARS – they are motivated, innovative and adaptable. The smaller team sizes mean you get to know everyone which improves communication and collaboration.”
Meenu Wadhwa
Playing, breathing exercises, and breaking down complex health information are all part of the job for The Prince Charles Hospital’s child life therapist, Meenu Wadhwa.Meenu’s role is to minimise the stress, fear and anxiety hospitalised children might experience and improve their coping strategies, which not only benefit young patients and their families, but also their treating teams.“The hospital environment is quite unfamiliar to children,” Meenu said.“When they come here, they don’t know what to expect or what’s going to happen, and so they have that fear of the unknown.”Meenu also helps to prepare children for medical procedures by explaining the process in an age-appropriate way. This helps to reduce the fear of the unknown and clarify misconceptions they may have.
This year we have also supported more than 20 aspiring women leaders from across Metro North to attend the 8th Qld Public Sector Women in Leadership Summit which will be held in Brisbane in June.
Gender diversity
Later this month we will be launching Pride in Metro North. If you’ve updated your Metro North email signature block recently you will have seen we now have options for people to include their preferred pronouns (e.g. she/her, they/them, he/him). If you’re not sure why learning about and using someone’s correct pronouns is an important part of creating a safe space for gender diverse staff, patients and visitors, I recommend this video from our Gender Service. Queensland Health also has some excellent resources for staff who identify as LGBTIQA+ and allies.
Jackie.