Director of Clinical Services retires after 16 years at health service

East Grampians Health Service Director of Clinical Services Peter Armstrong retired after 16 years with the organisation earlier this month.

Peter commenced working at EGHS in 2009 as Manager of Aged Care and was appointed to the position of Director of Clinical Services in 2011.

An afternoon tea was held to farewell Peter, with staff from across the health service attending.

“Peter has provided outstanding leadership to the clinical services area in a supportive and caring manner, all undertaken with a dry sense of humour and quick wit,” EGHS Chief Executive Nick Bush said at the farewell.

“Peter has a great understanding of all the things happening inside EGHS and the wider Ararat and Willaura communities.

“His attention to detail is further reinforced at the weekly incident meetings where Peter is across all the incidents of the week, or the more serious investigations. Peter’s inquisitive approach and trying to understand what happened has led the health service to improve the care we offer.

“Peter’s philosophy is ‘provide good care to patients and residents, and everything will look after itself, including the accreditation requirements and finances’ and he is right. When our care hasn’t been as good as it could be, Peter would simplify the situation, saying ‘would you like your family member to receive care like this?’ With this simplicity, we have all been open to looking for improvement in the care we provide.”

Following discussions a few years ago about the future of Garden View Court and the proposal to close it, due to bed occupancy being very low and community aged care packages being introduced, Peter set about changing EGHS’s aged care focus to implement the Montessori method, aiming to shift EGHS’s approach and improve the residential aged care service offerings.

“It has led to a significant improvement in our residential aged care services. All beds are currently full, with a waiting list, and Peter and the staff regularly receive compliments on the quality of care,” Mr Bush said.

“Peter is very proud of the aged care services we offer today, and the atmosphere at the three sites is welcoming, warm, and caring. Thanks also go to the dedicated staff who make this possible.”

Peter was dedicated to ensuring that EGHS delivered a high level of care to patients, and he was always present and available to provide support and guidance to the staff, executive team, and the Chief Executive.

“I thank Peter for his loyalty and support of me in what can be a challenging and stressful environment of trying to provide many different services with workforce shortages and financial constraints,” Mr Bush said.

“Peter’s leadership style has enabled me to advocate for and explore growth and development opportunities for EGHS.

“I thank him for his outstanding contribution to EGHS and the Victorian Health System and express my sincere gratitude to him for all that he has accomplished at EGHS. It is a much better place for our patients, residents, staff, volunteers and visiting medical officers.” Rebecca Peters, who has worked as Deputy Director of Clinical Services for the past four years, has stepped up into the role of Director of Clinical Services.