Valuable contribution of doctors recognised

East Grampians Health Service held its annual Visiting Medical Officers (VMO) dinner to celebrate the valuable contribution of local medical officers in their service to the community.

East Grampians Health Service has developed a close partnership with the doctors at the Ararat Medical Centre who provide medical support for the obstetrics, surgical, acute and aged care services.

“Many of the doctors provide around-the-clock on-call support for the hospital and Urgent Care Centre for people who require medical attention for serious health problems,” East Grampians Health Service CEO Nick Bush said.

“We thank the doctors and their families for their commitment to EGHS.”

It is through the doctors’ support that EGHS was able to provide treatment for 4231 individuals through the Urgent Care Centre and provide on-call maternity services to support the birth of 116 babies over the past year.

The guest speaker for the night was Professor Euan Wallace who is the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Safer Care Victoria – an independent government body which focuses on positive reform for the quality and safety of health care in Victoria.

Professor Wallace was the Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Services at Monash Health, which oversaw the largest maternity service in Victoria.

He spoke on reforms to the Victorian Health Sector which aims to adopt an improved ‘safety culture’ and the potential for future collaborations with EGHS.

The VMO dinner extended its invitation to four medical students currently undertaking their internship training.

During their training, they are given the opportunity to work with health care staff and patients and experience health care in a rural setting.

“The health service is very supportive of our students and we encourage all staff to adopt a learning culture approach,” Mr Bush said.