Wow, what an amazing week for Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford Directorate. We opened and celebrated the opening of the Caboolture Satellite Hospital with a Community Open Day on Monday, and, on Thursday, we began accepting patients.

As many of you are aware Queensland Health is delivering seven satellite hospitals and Caboolture was the first one to be delivered and open its doors.

It was a proud moment to see the effort of the various multidisciplinary teams come together, to provide this much needed community service. There has also been a brilliant effort by everyone involved in recruitment, as we certainly have attracted a high calibre of staff across the various clinical and non-clinical roles.

Congratulations to each and every individual who has been involved and got us to the opening and thank you and welcome to everyone who is going to be involved in the delivery of care at this wonderful facility.

There were several highlight moments for me – including listening to Kabi Kabi artist James Doyle as he performed the Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony – one of the oldest ceremonies practiced in the world today.

James also told the story behind his artwork which is displayed throughout the building in murals representing sustainability and ongoing spiritual connection with our land, plants and history. I was truly inspired by James and the stories he told. As a bit of a history buff and being interested in the culture of our community, I was totally mesmerised by his reflections, the meanings of the art he has produced for the Caboolture Satellite Hospital and his inclusion of all of us present at the event.

Another highlight moment for me was to see so many members of our community taking tours of the satellite hospital and enjoying the opportunity to talk to staff.

We know that health outcomes are improved when patients are informed and engaged. The tours were important in helping the community to understand about the services available.

First patient at the Minor Injury and Illness Clinic

Welcome little Ariel, who was our first ever patient at the Caboolture Satellite Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Clinic!

She is pictured with her mum Samantha. Unfortunately, Ariel had suffered a minor injury to her toe which needed immediate attention. Luckily, she was quickly seen and could get back to school.

Samantha said: “I was so glad that the clinic was open as I had just finished a night shift.

“I tried getting in to see a doctor at a local GP clinic but was told the appointment wouldn’t be for a week.”

I wish Ariel a very speedy recovery from her injury and well done to the staff who cared for her so well and set her on her way!

First Oral Health Clinic patient

Our colleagues at Community and Oral Health are also celebrating the opening of the new Caboolture Dental Clinic at the Satellite Hospital.

It’s great for our community to have fresh new state of the art dental facilities close to home.

Phillipa is a regular patient at Caboolture and was very impressed by the modern new facilities. She was welcomed by Prosthetist Dr Aden Webb.

Congratulations Temika!

Congratulations to Caboolture Hospital School Based Trainee Temika Sturgess who won the North Coast Region Queensland Training Awards (QTA) for the School Based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year for 2023!

Following her success last Friday night, the Burpengary State Secondary College will now progress to the State Training Awards on 9 September. Temika completed her traineeship with us in March and is looking forward to joining our casual pool after completion of year 12.

Temika joins a growing list of students recognised at the QTAs after completing their traineeship with Caboolture Hospital’s School Based Traineeship Program. This includes last year’s North Coast Region winner, State winner and Australian finalist for School Based Trainee of the Year, Matthew Siver.

Enterprise Scheduling Management (ESM) training now available

Staff identified as requiring training in Enterprise Scheduling Management (ESM), the ambulatory outpatient scheduling module of the integrated electronic Medical Record (ieMR), have been emailed details on how to complete their mandatory training.

The first phase of this is prerequisite online training hosted on Talent Management System (TMS), which staff can register for and complete themselves. I would encourage staff to complete this online training as soon as practicable. In person-training sessions will then commence from Monday 21 August.

If you require further information on what ESM is, or on how to register for training, please refer to the Metro North ieMR Program’s Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford QHEPs page.

If you believe you require training in ESM, and have not yet received an email, please first discuss with your line manager before escalating to the ieMR Program at ieMRProject-MetroNorth@health.qld.gov.au.

What a compliment!

Here’s an amazing compliment for our Kilcoy Hospital team. Keep up the great work!

“I just wanted to take this time to convey my deepest appreciation for the amazing care and assistance the nursing team and doctors afforded me in the management and recovery of my pneumonia. The Kilcoy Hospital Team is undoubtedly a very special group of people who are the standard and high bar that would be the envy of any health organisation.

“I must include the kitchen and the preparation and deliver of the high-quality meals they produce, just amazing. The cleaning team is always friendly and engaging and work hard to keep the hygiene standards to a high bar.

“In closing, The Kilcoy Hospital and all the team that make everything possible to bring about the outcomes that are required, are exceptional.

“I can’t not thank the team enough. Thank you for making this a most wonderful, amazing enjoyable experience, all be it while recovering from an illness. Thank you to all.”

I was fortunate enough to visit Kilcoy Hospital last week.  While I only had a couple of hours there, I would like to thank the few people I spoke to for their time. I plan to make visits to Kilcoy a regular part of my schedule and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible while CKW Executive Director.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health visits

Metro North Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Executive Director Sherry Holzapfel will be at Caboolture Hospital on Tuesday (8 August) from 10am to 1.30pm as part of her bi-monthly rounds of ‘Yarns with Sherry’.

The intent of these sessions is to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and services to provide a face-to-face option to yarn with the Executive Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. This initiative has been set up to provide ongoing cultural support for the workforce as a key Health Equity priority.

Please feel free to have a yarn with Sherry who will be based in the central courtyard.

Also, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) officers Jesse Blackman and Nickita Wylie will be conducting site visits during August. They are available to provide holistic one-on-one support to Metro North Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers.

They will visit Caboolture Hospital on 18 August and 29 August from 10am to 3.30pm. If you have any questions or would like more information, email the SEWB team at ATSILT_Wellness@health.qld.gov.au

National Stroke Week

National Stroke Week (7-13 August) encourages the community to fight stroke together and continue to enjoy life during and after recovery. I encourage you to check out the National Stroke Week display at Caboolture Hospital next week in main corridor (usual spot near the Central Courtyard).

You can also find more details on the National Stroke Foundation website.

Finally,

I hope everyone has a very safe and relaxing weekend. If you are working, I do hope you get some downtime.

My weekend will be a combination of housework and grandchildren. The housework I could take or leave, but I am never happier than when I am with my children and/or grandchildren…. actually, very secretly, I do prefer the grandchildren but don’t tell the children!

Whatever you are doing please stay safe, enjoy this glorious winter weather and where possible do something for YOU!

Kind regards,

Alanna.