Tami Photinos Executive Director Community and Oral Health

We start 2021 with our directorate at the forefront of the COVID-19 response.

While some of the patient supports and services we offer have been reduced, others have been introduced and increased. Each day we continued to deliver the best quality care safely.

Our directorate’s agility and responsiveness has received many accolades from our peers.

A real highlight for me was the way our oral health staff jumped sideways to support the broader response effort – whether that be as contact tracers, support for our community assessment clinics or the hotel quarantine management team.

We are now establishing a dedicated stream to bring all our COVID-19 functions together. This ensures our response to the pandemic becomes more business-as-usual and sits well under the one umbrella.

Mary Wheeldon has agreed to lead this new stream for the next 12 months. This temporary role will ensure she can continue to keep up the good work and we can all stay on the front foot. Thanks, Mary.

In addition to this, COH will also lead the COVID-19 vaccination rollout for Metro North staff, which will start in February. This is a large and important body of work which I’m delighted that COH was asked to lead.

As many of you will know, I will be taking on a new role as Executive Director of The Prince Charles Hospital for the next 12 months.

Senior Director Operations Glynis Schultz will step into the COH Executive Director role during this period. Michelle Stute will join COH as Acting Senior Director Operations.

I am immensely proud of the work that the COH Team has achieved over the past few years while I have been Executive Director. I couldn’t have done it without the wonderful team around me. Thank you for your continued efforts, compassion and teamwork.

Please continue to look after one another as we continue through 2021. It is already proving to be an extraordinary and challenging one.

Thank you,

Tami Photinos
Executive Director
Community and Oral Health