Aspen Medical subsidiary, Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) has launched a pioneering partnership with Western Health that will see five senior Western Hospital Emergency Department nurses embark on exciting placements to the Northern Territory. This is the first formal partnership between RAHC and another health service to provide health professionals to the Northern Territory.
During the course of their placements , the nurses will spend six weeks in remote Indigenous communities providing primary healthcare.
RAHC is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Through Health initiative. It aims to address critical health workforce shortages in remote Indigenous communities by attracting and recruiting urban-based health practitioners and placing them in short-term placements in those communities where there is demand. The company is a subsidiary of Canberra-based global healthcare solutions provider, Aspen Medical.
According to Glenn Keys AO, Executice Chairman of Aspen Medical, “This is a win-win situation. The Territory will benefit from the placement of five highly-trained and experienced nurses. After their placements are complete, Melbourne will welcome back nursing staff who will have gained a deeper understanding of the unique needs of Indigenous people living in the communities they serve.”
''This program is a fantastic opportunity for Western Health to strengthen its ability to respond to the needs of our culturally diverse community.”, Western Health’s Divisional Director Emergency, Medicine & Cancer Services, Rhonda Beattie-Manning said.
The first nurse will depart later this month, with the other participants following consecutively over seven months.
From left to right:
Back row: Julie-Ann Martin (Clinical Nurse Educator, Emergency department Western Health Footscray), Jacqueline Watkins (Manager, Aboriginal Health, Western Health), Associate Professor Alex Cockram (Cheif Executive, Western Health), Glenn Keys AO (Executive Chairman, Aspen Medical), Rhonda Beattie-Manning (Divisional Director Emergency Medicine & Cancer services, Western Health), Phillip Roberts (General Manager, Remote Area Health Corps).
Front row: Ruth Coleman, Michelle Robinson, Mark Kohler, Gladis Rodriguez-Lopez, and Kimberly Nini.