Ten centuries scored by community health workers

Community and Oral Health (COH) held a very special celebration recently to acknowledge the work of a small group of community health care workers who combined have delivered close to 1,000 years of patient care.

Around thirty staff, including nurses, doctors, allied health practitioners, and operational and administrative staff were among those recognised at this year’s COH Length of Service Awards.

COH Acting Executive Director Tanya Beaumont said the event was for staff who had reached a five-yearly service milestone of 25 years or above.

“Some of our best known and most respected community and home visiting healthcare staff were among those recognised this year,” she said.

“The list of award recipients also reflects the range of work and careers that people perform across our bedded, home-based and community services each day.

“The Length of Service Awards included 11 staff members who were celebrating a very important milestone – 35 or 40 years of service in the community.

“Recognising the contribution of all staff across the service is critical to the positive culture and services we deliver in the community, and which support Metro North Health’s acute hospitals.”

Tanya said community staff were eligible for recognition in the awards after serving a qualifying period of ten years at Metro North Health across Brisbane North and Moreton Bay.

In addition to the special ceremony for 25, 30, 35 and 40-year recipients, certificates and badges were also hand delivered to staff across COH multiple sites.

“These facilities include Brighton Health Campus, the Halwyn Centre, Cooinda House, Zillmere Transition Care Program and multiple community health centres across Brisbane and Moreton Bay,” Tanya said.

“Around 4,500 years of service were acknowledged in total in 2024 – with a large number of staff individually receiving 10, 15 and 20-year length of service certificates and badges.

“From all of us at COH, I commend our staff on their combined efforts in improving health services across our service.”

Community-based care is a vital part of Metro North Health’s ability to meet increasing patient demand on hospitals and expectations that health services are delivered closer to home.

Tanya said COH provided an alternative to hospital treatment and was a way for people to get the support they need to avoid being re-admitted to hospital.

“Locally, we operate up to 300 beds each day across Home Hospital, rehabilitation, transition care and specialist residential care services, along with delivering a significant amount of important community and oral health services,” she said.