A Dubbo hospital trauma specialist was among the winners of a prestigious health award.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dr Simon Heppell, Director of Trauma at the Dubbo Hospital, was announced as Staff Member of the Year at the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) awards night on Thursday evening.
Mark Spittal, WNSWLHD chief executive, said the awards provide an opportunity to celebrate the hard work and success of teams and health professionals across the district.
"Every year our dedicated healthcare professionals face new challenges and this year was no different. Once again, they rose to those challenges to provide innovative, world-class care for our communities," he said.
"Being able to see and hear their passion, drive and commitment to improve our services and the care we provide was nothing short of inspiring.
This event allows us to see and appreciate the amazing work our staff do right across our district every single day. Importantly, it also gives us the opportunity to come together to celebrate and recognise those achievements."
The 2023 WNSWLHD Awards were presented to individuals, teams and projects that contributed to innovation in healthcare.
Dr Heppell was awarded for his leadership through the multi-year effort to get Dubbo Health Service reaccredited and reinstated as a Regional Trauma Service.
The big winner on the evening was the district's Remote Mobile CT Service, which won the Health Innovation Award along with the Board's Choice Award and the People's Choice Award, voted on by the district's workforce.
Rotating between Cobar, Bourke and Walgett each week, the service has improved access to CT for remote communities. Since coming online in May, the service has provided more than 280 scans and saved patients approximately 170,000 kilometres in travel.
The Volunteer of the Year Award was shared by Ana Vastag, a champion for the health and welfare needs of migrants in Lightning Ridge, and James Hamilton, a voluntary member of the Trangie Health Council and Trangie Health Community Group.
The Chief Executive's Award was also shared between the Expansion of Modern Radiotherapy Service and the Dementia Sing Out Choir.
"I wholeheartedly congratulate all of our Award winners and finalists. There were so many worthy projects that were submitted for consideration across the District," Mr Spittal said.
"We are so proud of our staff's work and the care they provide to our communities.
We are truly grateful to have such dedicated healthcare professionals across our district, of whom our communities can be justifiably proud."
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign-up to our latest newsletter:
