The nursing staff of the Collarenebri Community Hub were recognised for excellence last night in Melbourne as the Healthy Communities Foundation Australia (the Foundation) took away the 2024 National HESTA Nursing and Midwifery Awards as Outstanding Organisation of the Year. The award recognises excellence in supporting nurses as clinical leaders in health care in Australia.
Local Collarenebri Nurse, Roie Caine, contributed to the win with an impassioned video (see below) advocating for new models of care to address the appalling state of health care in rural and remote towns.
Foundation CEO, Mark Burdack, said: “This award is a credit to all the hard work and commitment shown by our nursing teams across rural and remote Australia”.
“Rural and remote communities have poorer health, higher rates of hospitalisation, die up to 16 years earlier than people who live in the cities and poor access to doctors.
“After more than 20 years of waiting for promised solutions to the rural health crisis, communities like Collarenebri have recognised that governments are simply not able to deliver solutions because they do not understand the needs on the ground. In response, the community has taken charge of local health reform.
“While the number of doctors, allied health and other professionals declines the further you move from the cities, the number of nurses does not. Nurses have always been the backbone of rural and regional health, and that is why they are the foundation for renewing and expanding health care access in rural and remote communities.
“Our nurse led teams are bringing health care back to the bush including mental health services, women’s health, children’s health and chronic disease management.
“It is very rare for rural and remote nurses to get recognition on a national stage for their work, and I would like to thank HESTA Super, Me Bank, Medibank and the other award sponsors, and the jury of academic and industry peers, for recognising the tireless work of rural and remote nurses and their role in returning health to local communities” said Mr Burdack.
For more information call Mark Burdack on 0418974988.
Hear more from Roie Caine, Practice Manager and Nurse, Collarenebri Medical Centre in the Collarenebri Community Hub: