Dear colleagues,

Happy Administration Professionals Day to our many admin staff across Metro North!

Thank you for your kind support while I was recovering from my recent surgery. I’m feeling much better and glad to be back on deck. As always, I knew the organisation was in good hands with Jackie Hanson filling in for me.

I was disappointed to miss our second #NextCare Health Conference while I was recuperating. I loved the first one in 2019 and was looking forward to speaking and having the chance to chat with staff at the event. Watching this video of the conference hasn’t helped my FOMO!

May is a big month for our nursing and midwifery colleagues with International Day of the Midwife on May 5 and International Nurses Day on May 12. Nurses and midwives make up almost half of Metro North’s staff and the significant portion of our clinical workforce. Thank you all for the care and compassion you provide to patients and families.

Nurses and midwives also make up much of our Metro North executive leadership team too – Jackie Hanson, Alanna Geary, Colleen Jen, Michele Gardner, Louise Oriti, Tami Photinos, Glynis Schultz, Gillian Nasato, and Deputy Board Chair Dr Kim Forrester and Board members Bonny Barry and Associate Professor Kim Johnston all spent many years as clinicians.

I’ll be at Redcliffe Hospital on Monday to chat with staff. Come and chat with me between 12.30 and 1.30pm in the staff courtyard. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to congratulate Dr Joel Dulhunty in person for cycling from Cairns to Brisbane to raise money for the hospital foundation.

I had a good chuckle earlier this week following Sam’s very thoughtful proposal highlighting the multiple advantages of him being a stay at home son and the lack of need for the situation to change. His elevator pitch to me was I paid for everything for the last 19 years and earned enough to cover us both so why don’t I just keep doing that and his finding employment is a unnecessary change to a partnership that was working. I am not that sure that he liked my response!

Regards,

Shaun