Staff News

Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford
Staff Update

We started the week with an event for National Reconciliation Week, recognising the importance of health equity and reconciliation. As a New Zealander, I am very honoured to spend my ...

In my role I speak to a lot of people. This week, as it is National Volunteers Week, I had the privilege to engage on a personal level and thank ...

We have had a week of celebration this week at CKW as we showed gratitude and respect to the largest groups of our health professionals – our midwives and nurses.

On Friday, we started three weeks of celebrations for CKW staff, starting with our administration superheroes gathering to celebrate the annual Administrative Professionals Day.

On Friday, we started three weeks of celebrations for CKW staff, starting with our administration superheroes gathering to celebrate the annual Administrative Professionals Day.

Today I want to wish all our amazing Midwives a happy International Day of the Midwife and thank them for the focused, professional and women and families-centred care they provide.

Firstly, Happy Administrative Professionals Day! Our administration professionals range broadly from our complaints team, to our ESOs, to our reception staff, to our Health Information team, community and consumer engagement ...

Happy Administrative Professionals Day, to all our absolutely amazing administration professionals that work with us across the CKW Directorate!

I hope you all had time yesterday – ANZAC day – to reflect. ANZAC day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australia and New ...

Anzac Day is a very special day on the Australian and New Zealand calendar, where we celebrate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and a very important day for ...

Important works to replace the circuit breaker in the Caboolture Hospital Clinical Services Building have been temporarily delayed due to acute patient management. These works will still go ahead this afternoon ...

Just before 9am today, the new clinical services building at Caboolture Hospital lost power for about 20 minutes. We called a Code Yellow at the time and that remain in ...

Well, as our local landmarks across Brisbane shine white to share light with Sydney following the terrible events in Bondi Junction last weekend, I want to send my personal thoughts ...

Wow, what a week. We have continued to experience very high community demand resulting in us being on a Tier 3 capacity alert for an extended period. As of this ...

Following on from Easter it has been another exciting week at CKW. We have seen extreme demand for our services across the state, network, and our services at CKW, ...

As we head rapidly into the Easter weekend, we have had a huge week at CKW and across MNHHS.

Today, we celebrate International Doctors’ Day.

Well, it has been another exciting week here at CKW. I have had the opportunity to catch up with some amazing stars of CKW which I will share with you ...

Did you know that Australia is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world? We come from more than 200 countries and speak 300 languages, as well as ...

We have had another great week here in the Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford Directorate with celebrations, events and recognition days.

Today is World Delirium Day, where we raise awareness about this common yet often overlooked condition that affects millions of people worldwide.

I want to wish all our female team members a Happy International Women’s Day! We in health are truly lucky to have so many exemplary female leaders, in so many ...

For some of us, Friday signals the end of a very busy week; for others you are mid-week and thinking about the next few days and how they are going ...

Well, following a few days of leave, it has been another busy week as we started the week with the Paediatric Review team on site Monday to Wednesday.

Late last year, Australian Council of Health Care Standards (ACHS) accreditors visited CKW to assess our work against the eight National Safety and Quality Health Care Standards (NSQHS). It was ...

I wanted to start this week’s message by saying a simple but very heartfelt thank you for continuing to deliver high-quality and patient-centred care to our patients and the community.

Well, it certainly has been a busy and challenging week which peaked with the terrible Tuesday weather and surrounding flooding. As a result, we engaged a Code Brown which most ...

The wet weather certainly created challenges for our community today, and as a result a Code Brown was put in place. Thank you to all the teams who worked together ...

For many of us, this week is a short week with Friday being a public holiday. This day is significant to people for different reasons and brings a mixture of ...

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you. We have have been operating at Tier 3 for the majority of this week so, thank you for all the hard work happening ...

Every day as I drive to work, I reflect on how privileged I am to work in healthcare. My work life has been a rich experience where I have been ...

Welcome back everyone and happy New Year!

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you have found some time for joy, happiness, family and/or friends during the festive period. For those of you, like me, who ...

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, on behalf of the CKW Executive team and myself, I would like to wish you a joyous and recuperative time filled with love, happiness ...

I want to let you in on a little secret…. I’m a bit of a Christmas Grinch, though at the moment (with all the CKW festivities around me) I am ...

At the end of my first week, I certainly have much to reflect on. As a team CKW has achieved so much, and to begin the week with news of ...

Well Team Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford, today is the day that I say so long as the Acting Executive Director.

I’m very excited to share the news that Caboolture Hospital, Kilcoy Hospital and Woodford Corrections Health has received a positive recommendation from the Australian Council on Health Care Standards (ACHS) ...

Thank you to everyone who joined the special short-notice accreditation CKW All Staff Forum earlier today. As I said to everyone at that event, accreditation is nothing to be worried ...

It’s our turn! Caboolture Hospital, Kilcoy Hospital and Woodford Corrections Health welcomes short notice accreditation and we’ll have Australian Council on Health Care Standards (ACHS) assessors with us from 8am ...

It’s been a busy start to the week for CKW! Yesterday the Deputy Premier Steven Miles, Minister for Health Shannon Fentiman, and Minister Mark Ryan, local member for Morayfield, officially ...

The Health Minister has issued a Ministerial Direction that requires sexual assault victims presenting at Caboolture Hospital Emergency Department (and others across Queensland that are listed in the Direction) to ...

Today we welcomed our first patients into the Clinical Services Building! Ward 3C opened its doors with our new Palliative Care Unit and Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit.

Today is a momentous day for Caboolture Hospital. We opened our new Clinical Services Building (CSB) to the public, with Central Admissions and Level 1 public areas now open to ...

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the Living our Values staff consultation sessions so far.

We had a fantastic night at the 2023 Metro North Research Awards, which was CKW’s most successful Research Awards yet!

I’m excited to start consultation sessions for staff to talk about our Caring Together: Living our Values project.

As CKW continues to grow and evolve, it’s important to define what we want our culture to look like. That’s why I’m excited to share that we recently started the ...

CKW continues to grow a strong research culture. That’s why I’m so proud to showcase the program for today’s CKW Research Symposium. The event starts at 9am (Tuesday 17 October). ...

I am excited to announce that the Caboolture Hospital multi-storey car park is set to open at 6am on Monday 16 October 2023. There will be a two-week free parking ...

I am excited to announce that the Caboolture Hospital multi-storey car park is set to open at 6am on Monday 16 October 2023. There will be a two-week free parking ...

Happy Birthday Caboolture Hospital! Caboolture Hospital turns 30 next month and we’ve organised a whole month of fun to celebrate our journey, our people and our community.

I am always keen to hear directly about your successes and your challenges while working at CKW.

Following on from the successful completion and opening of the new BEMS building, I am pleased to announce that practical completion for the multi-storey car park is forecast for this ...

Did you know Caboolture Hospital turns 30 next month? 30 years of caring for a community that has grown and changed as much as we have.

A reminder about our special All Staff Forum with Chief Executive Jackie Hanson on Monday (11 September). Metro North Chief Executive Jackie Hanson and I will present some of our ...

I would like to invite you to a special All Staff Forum with Chief Executive Jackie Hanson on Monday (11 September).

Community awareness of the Caboolture Satellite Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Clinic continues to grow as the number of patient admissions reaches 40 to 50 per day, with some days ...

The review into the care of baby Weston has now been released publicly. The review was conducted by senior medical officers external to Metro North Health and will be available ...

Is it really winter…I know officially we are moving into spring but what glorious weather we are having. I am really enjoying my time at Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford.

We have been working hard towards building a bigger and better hospital for the Caboolture community, with lots of exciting work happening behind the scenes to get the buildings ready ...

The Terms of Reference for an independent review into Paediatric care at Caboolture Hospital have now been finalised.

What a busy few weeks we have had. There is so much going on and I wonder where the weeks are going. It is certainly full on!

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, ...

Well, we are nearly there! The Caboolture Satellite Hospital will open on Thursday (3 August). It will offer a range of outpatient-based services, the new Minor Injury and Illness Clinic ...

Happy Friday. The mornings are chilly but aren’t the days glorious. We are so blessed to live and work in such a beautiful part of the world.

Thank you for making me feel so welcome over the last couple of weeks. I’ve enjoyed meeting so many staff and spending time with you all.

I really enjoyed the Coming of the Light ceremony this week in the Caboolture Hospital Chapel. The local Torres Strait Islander dance troupe sang a hymn in the Chapel, much ...

I started yesterday as Acting Executive Director of Caboolture Hospital, Kilcoy Hospital and Woodford Corrections Health while recruitment for a new Executive Director is underway.

I am writing today to recognise the impacts of the increased demand for our services coupled with the focus of Caboolture in the public arena.

This week has brought many challenges. I want to acknowledge the hurt and distress of the families and our staff.

I wanted to remind you of an important part of the snap accreditation process that may not have been front of mind but still needs to be ready for the ...

This week members of the CKW leadership team met to continue the important work of developing the 2023-2024 CKW Strategic Plan.

As you know, we must be ready for snap accreditation assessment any time from 1 July this year.

Crazysocks4docs Day will be held across Australia tomorrow (Friday 2 June).

Today is National Sorry Day. It is an occasion that allows us to reflect upon the painful chapters of our history and acknowledge the injustices and hardships faced by our ...

For the last few months, we have all been working hard towards the opening of the Clinical Services Building (CSB) and the multi-storey car park.

Today we celebrate the wonderful team of nurses that we are blessed to have support our community’s needs at Caboolture Hospital, Kilcoy Hospital and Woodford Corrections Health.

We have two reasons to celebrate today! It’s Administration Professionals Day today and National Day of the Midwife.

I wanted to start with a heartfelt thank you for the hard work and support for colleagues during another busy week. I know it is greatly appreciated by our growing ...

It’s wonderful that we can get back out into the community again. Advance Care Planner Desre Arnold and Manager Culture and Engagement Parker Michaels recently had a great day at ...

Patients at Caboolture Hospital will be able to order all-day hot breakfasts, burgers, stir fries or even pancakes on demand under our new room service model, which starts tomorrow (18 ...

I hope everyone enjoyed the Easter break and managed to relax where possible. Not all of our team had a break, and the long weekend was certainly a very busy ...

Following on from Angie’s Easter sentiments, I also want to wish all staff and their families an enjoyable and restful time Easter holiday

With the Easter period fast approaching, I wanted to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication in delivering care to our community across CKW.

I want to begin this message by reflecting on the success of our recent staff events. There was a tremendous effort by the organising teams involved, and the staff engagement ...

To support planning for transition to new facilities, workforce onboarding and service readiness for the Clinical Services Building and multi-storey car park, a target date has been set.

Have you seen the next piece of artwork has been installed on the Clinical Services building.

This is an exciting year for Caboolture Hospital. Together, we will deliver new buildings and new services to improve the health of our community, with the new clinical services building ...

Is your workplace ready for short-notice accreditation starting in July? The National Safety Quality Health Standards (NSQHS) accreditation handbook is a great opportunity to improve your knowledge of accreditation standards ...

We can do great things when we work together. Caboolture Hospital has seen great success recently with our post-fall huddle initiative, lead by a multi-disciplinary team including medical, nursing, allied ...

Metro North Health will be moving to short notice accreditation from June this year. We need to ensure we are prepared and ready for this major change to how our ...

I wanted to share a lovely story with you. It still makes me a bit misty eyed thinking about it.

I’m always excited to see the new clinical services building and multi-storey car park quickly taking shape.

The Redcliffe-Caboolture Mental Health Service officially launched the evidence-based ‘Safewards’ program recently.

This time of year is always exciting – new resolutions, new goals, new beginnings, new things to look forward to. CKW Directorate certainly has many things to look forward to ...

We have some good news, effective from 7am this morning, Queensland has shifted to GREEN in the COVID-19 traffic light system. This is a great reprieve for our patients, staff ...

As many of you will already know, the Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation will come into effect in Queensland from 1 January 2023. As a healthcare worker, it is essential ...

Christmas has always been one of my favourite times of year. Thanks for your generosity, your kindness, your compassion and your leadership throughout 2022 to ensure the ongoing health of ...

For me, Christmas is traditionally a time for joy and celebration. I saw so much of that today.

My message comes a day early this week so that I can inform you of a very sad passing and arrangements.

As the old song goes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go, of which I’m very much in favour!

With less than four weeks to go, I think we can safely say the countdown to Christmas has officially started! Entries in the popular annual CKW Christmas decorations competition are ...

Our annual Length of Service ceremony yesterday was such a wonderful event.

We must continue to protect ourselves and our community against COVID-19, which includes ensuring your vaccinations are up to date.

November 11, Remembrance Day, is always a special time to reflect on the sacrifices of others so that we can enjoy peace and a time to take a moment to ...

Queensland’s new traffic light advice system for living with COVID-19 was released earlier this week. In simple terms, green means low community transmission of COVID-19, amber is moderate and red ...

‘Compassion is a state of mind that allows us to notice the distress in ourselves and others and to step forward with genuine understanding and a determination to do something ...

While this year has been a challenging one for so many reasons, it has also been inspiring and uplifting.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the move away from the pandemic response we have been well practiced at towards a more business as usual approach. I also mentioned ...

It is now less than eight months until we reach construction completion of the new Clinical Services Building (CSB)! We have so much to look forward to and many aspirations ...

Our charity partner, The Common Good, will host its inaugural Caboolture Hospital Giving Day on Wednesday 30 November.

It has been a really big week across the Directorate. It has been 12 months since the independent external review into surgical services at Caboolture Hospital was conducted by eminent ...

A very big thank you to everyone for being so welcoming and helpful during my week as Acting Executive Director. We really do have a great team at CKW!

This week has been a week of global reflection over the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. We have heard the voices and opinions of monarchists, republicans, our Aboriginal and Torres ...

The Common Good Café servery re-opened this morning.

We have now had over a week to get used to being in a Tier 1 COVID-19 and Influenza response. It’s a definite change from the months of Tier 3!

R U OK? Starting a conversation when you spot the signs that someone you care about might be struggling with life is important every day, every week, every month, every ...

We recently identified an urgent need to temporarily extend capacity of the current Caboolture Hospital Emergency Department (ED).

Working in effective teams improves clinical outcomes, increases professional satisfaction and provides crucial peer support (James, 2021).

To ensure we are ready to open the new Clinical Services Building next year, construction work needs to happen throughout the kitchen area of the Common Good Café.

The pressures that we have been facing from external sources are not to be underestimated. I recognise that this – on top of all that you have been doing every day ...

Here’s some great news! At 7am tomorrow morning (Wednesday 17 August), Metro North Health will move to a Tier 2 response in our COVID-19 and Influenza Response Plan.

I’m sure you have heard me say before that we need to look after ourselves and care for each other to ensure we can continue to provide high-quality care to ...

Did you catch the Metro North vidcast yesterday with Incident Controller Louise O’Riordan and Acting Chief Digital Health Officer Dr Jason Brown? It included some very encouraging news.

I truly value all your hard work. Weeks like this are a good reminder of the strength of the CKW team. You have all shown this in the cross-collaborations and ...

Working in healthcare can be very challenging and very rewarding. Each and every one of us at CKW contributes to delivery of excellent patient and family centered care for our ...

It’s been a familiar story. Patient demand for health services across all areas of the Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford directorate continues to rise, combined with many staff furloughed due to ...

My favourite quote from Lord of the Rings is “There may be a day when the hearts of men and women may fail … but today is not that day ...

COVID is surging again, at the same time as winter flu season. This surge is estimated to last for weeks to a few months. So we need to change gear ...

Let’s celebrate NAIDOC Week. Be encouraged to call into the central courtyard this Thursday between 11am and 3pm. At 11am, there will be a traditional Welcome to Country with Aunty ...

After night, the sunrise will come. After winter, spring will arrive. We will get through this season. Right now we are recruiting 50 new staff to help us. In 7 ½ ...

We are growing bigger and expanding. Who is moving to a new place soon?

This week we bid farewell to Caboolture Hospital Coordinator Sue Stork, who is transitioning to retirement after a remarkable 46-year nursing career.

While Angie Dobbrick continues as Acting Executive Director at TPCH and Dr Simon Bugden takes some planned leave, I am acting Executive Director for the CKW Directorate this week (to ...

What a week! Thanks for all of your valiant work in caring for our community. More staff are being recruited and more space is being created. Our CKW is growing and ...

Caring for people and helping them get better … it’s what we do. Doing this at the moment is very challenging for many teams. We have spent most of the ...

Remember when we all received two additional days of leave for full time and part time employees (pro-rata) in recognition of the contribution we all made to Queensland’s COVID-19 response?

The Metro North Research Excellence Awards were held at Eatons Hill Hotel last night. It was a wonderful night, celebrating what can be achieved when we embed a strong research ...

National Sorry Day yesterday and National Reconciliation Week (NRW) starting today are both important opportunities for all of us to reflect on shared histories, cultures, achievements and explore how each ...

We’re all committed to providing the best possible care for our patients and the community and so I would like to thank you for all of the work you have ...

Once again we are faced with an extraordinary weather event! I know, if it’s not COVID it seems to be water. It is always during these critical times that I ...

Metro North Health is committed to providing equity of access to high quality health care services and building relationships based on inclusion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and ...

It’s a familiar story. The Caboolture region has received a large amount of rain today with flooding in some low-lying areas.

We are so very pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 CKW Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards.

It has been another short week and our three facilities continue to be extremely busy. Thank you for doing such a great job again this week!

Metro North Health facilities limited visitors during the pandemic. Now most people have been vaccinated and we have proven systems and policies in place to help stop the spread of ...

Here’s a wonderful milestone worth celebrating. This week is the 25th anniversary of the Chapel and chaplaincy services at Caboolture Hospital.

We’ve all done a large amount of work the past few weeks to combat the latest surge of COVID-19. It’s been a tough road, particularly with so many of our ...

Pharmacy Director Tim Dunn received a mayday call from our friends at Longreach last Friday, flagging a critical shortfall in their pharmacy workforce due to COVID-19.

I’m excited to officially welcome about 180 new staff to the CKW Directorate today … but we already know them well and value the work they do every day to ...

It is not all ‘Days’ that I write to you to acknowledge but today is an important day. Today is Trans Day of Visibility, an international day of celebration which ...

The decision to move to the Metro North COVID-19 Tier 3 Response this week is primarily about preserving our acute staffing during this period of high staff leave.

I want to acknowledge it’s been another challenging week for the CKW Directorate and I hope everyone is taking care to look after their wellbeing and to support their colleagues. ...

I want to acknowledge it’s been another challenging week for the CKW Directorate and I hope everyone is taking care to look after their wellbeing and to support their colleagues. ...

CKW is proud to be partnering with Clinical Excellence Queensland to deliver the ‘Conversations that make a difference’ virtual sessions. Whether conversations are about safety, processes, behavior or expectations, there are ...

The flooding in our region and across South East Queensland has been a very extreme and for some a traumatic experience. I want to pay special tribute to all CKW ...

The flooding we experienced last weekend was a defining event for CKW staff and the patients we care for.  A very big thank you from me, particularly to the many ...

The rain has stopped, but we are still seeing a lot of water over roads and in waterways and damage to road infrastructure. We remain on a Code Brown. Kilcoy ...

Heavy rain is expected to continue through today and possibly into tomorrow. This is causing significant flooding around access roads to Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford. Kilcoy and Woodford have been ...

A very big shoutout today to our friends and colleagues at Kilcoy Hospital and Woodford Corrections Health who are cut-off due to rising floodwaters blocking the D’Aguilar Highway and several ...

A severe weather warning has been issued with the threat of intense rainfall over the next few days. Up to 300mm of rain has been forecast for the next three ...

Thanks for caring for people and helping them get better, in their local community. We are ramping up our outpatient and operating theatre activity, thanks to everyone who is making this ...

Good news! It looks like we have passed the crest of our COVID admissions wave & are on the way down.

The number of COVID-19 patients at CKW continue to decline so we’re starting to downscale our response accordingly.

The number of COVID-19 patients under our care continues to fall. This is great news, CKW. Well done! It’s now time to look forward and determine how we return to a ...

Thank you for your great work this week and ongoing commitment to improve the health of our community. There is plenty of COVID-19 still around, please check that your colleagues are ...

It looks like our admitted COVID-19 numbers are cresting. Hopefully we will know over the next few days.

Keep up the great work – we’ve got this! While COVID-19 presentations are declining across Queensland, our acute patient load is growing which means we continue to operate in a ...

I’m filling in for a few weeks while Angie enjoys spending time with her daughter, who started Prep yesterday. A very special time. Thanks for all the hard work and ...

As we approach the end of the week, I want to say an enormous thank you. I have seen incredible examples of leadership, problem solving and camaraderie this year, and ...

We are starting to see the number of new COVID-19 cases decline which is giving us a sense of hope that we have reached our peak. It’s also giving us ...

As we swelter through another day of this heatwave, I hope everyone is staying hydrated and keeping cool. My thoughts are with all of our staff wearing full PPE, working ...

I hope you can join me online tomorrow at 10:30am for the first CKW All Staff Update of 2022. I’ll provide an update on our COVID planning and response, and ...

I’ve seen and heard so many wonderful examples of teamwork this month. At all levels of our Directorate, everyone is chipping in to strengthen our response to COVID-19. Thank you ...

Thank you to all teams and staff that are volunteering to be redeployed and to those staff that are working extra hours. I want to acknowledge that we are experiencing ...

Big shout out to everyone who worked yesterday’s public holiday, particularly our nursing and medical staff that did a significant amount of overtime to cover staff shortages. Your commitment to ...

Fit testing is important to keeping you safe, especially those staff that are working in priority high risk areas. Call the CKW fit testing service on 2422 to make a ...

Shout out to team Woodford for their resilience and persistence as they face a COVID-19 outbreak in the prison. I can’t thank you enough for your commitment during what can ...

Today, we say a heartfelt farewell to our ICU Nurse Unit Manager, Rose Cooper. Rose is retiring after an impressive 33 year nursing career. She has dedicated 30 of those ...

Have you been fit tested? Our urgency for fit testing is very real and it is essential that all clinical staff are fit tested before the omicron peak, which is ...

Shout out to the MOPS team for their calm response and prompt action following yesterday’s Tier 4 announcement. The team safely and successfully transferred x4 patients to Caboolture Private Hospital ...

Thank you for continuing to provide exceptional care to all of our patients. Your resilience and ability to adapt to the changing COVID landscape is remarkable. Thank you!

Great work by everyone, what a COVID response- shout out to the ICU today for their management of a patient over the weekend!

Great work by everyone, what a COVID response- shout out to the Woodford Team today!

Latest modelling continues to suggest a peak in late January/ early February. Expect the admissions to increase soon, but ICU numbers to be much less (than expected with delta).

Great work by everyone, what a COVID response- I appreciate the calm and considered approach!

Great work by everyone, what a COVID response.

Latest modelling suggests a peak in late January/ early February. Expect the admissions to increase soon, but ICU numbers to be much less (than expected with delta).

Great work by everyone, what a COVID response.

Lots going on. I want to acknowledge that we have all been working really hard, so want to give a shout out to a few specific staff groups today

Only Wednesday and we have already changed COVID gears several times this week. The fresh news is:

Welcome back to everyone who has been on leave. Hope you are relaxed & ready to join our COVID response. Lots has changed in the last fortnight, we need to ...

I use the word team today, because we really are working as a team, moving resources around, offering to help each other. Thanks for working together to achieve our shared ...