We were thrilled to see nine of our staff members acknowledged for their tremendous work during the COVID-19 pandemic at the My COVID Hero vocational awards evening hosted by Rotary Southern Mitchell. The awards evening was held at Trackside on Tuesday 31 May 2022.
The following staff received certificates and heartfelt praise from the community during the ceremony:
Bec van de Paverd for leading the development of the KDH COVID-19 Vaccination clinic including policies and procedures, recruitment of staff, credentialing and training, logistics, communications and outreach clinics. Bec had the clinic running in less than 6 weeks so our community had access to vaccination. Since then, more than 33,000 vaccinations have been administered.
Kylie Scott for working tirelessly across a range of platforms to provide effective COVID communications to the community. Kylie was able to simplify often complex directives to ensure the information was meaningful and relevant for the target audiences. She played an integral role in the COVID-19 vaccination clinic, liaising with community organisations, health services and community members to support them in accessing vaccinations.
Lisa Carlyon for working on the ‘front line’ since the pandemic began, always with a huge smile, friendly nature and practical approach. Lisa was instrumental in all of the testing clinics run by KDH, on-site, pop-ups, school blitz and the drive-through clinic. Lisa approached each day with humour to ease the minds of those getting tested, especially when people were nervous or uncomfortable.
Louise Hunter for wearing many hats throughout the pandemic. As Manager of supply, Louise has always been willing to step in and work in the stores department and ensured Personal Protective Equipment was in stock and distributed across the organisation and testing sites. Her proactiveness and organisation was paramount in keeping staff and patients safe during the pandemic.
Lucinda White was integral to setting up many administration processes, she has worked in all COVID response areas showing excellence and compassion to our consumers. Lucinda was able think on the go and support KDH to develop excellent administration processes and would go above and beyond to ensure consumers were supported.
Robert Telfer showed exceptional leadership in a constantly changing environment with additional cleaning services regularly being required. Rob was calm in his response and supported the team that kept our hospital environment safe and clean for clients and staff alike.
Robyn Laws showed exceptional leadership and genuine care for staff and residents at Caladenia Nursing Home. She worked tirelessly to ensure a COVID outbreak was well managed and residents wellbeing was always front of mind. She continually motivated staff, kept Resident spirits high and prevented the outbreak from spreading.
Sam White was instrumental in setting up initial COVID processes, supporting contact tracing for the community and Health Service. She was responsible for being a contact for the Public Health Unit and working through the rapid changes to the Health Service. She provided staff and local community support guiding them through COVID restrictions and isolation requirements.
Sharon Jansen donated time and materials to run workshops for staff to learn to make their own cloth masks at a time when masks were in very short supply, She made masks for staff unable to attend and for patients to take home. This was an amazing effort and resource for staff and patients and helped everyone during an incredibly difficult time.
Congratulations to all these staff members for the well deserved recognition.