Previous staff gathered to share memories and enjoy a barbecue lunch. Photo: Clare Harb.
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Over 120 community members along with former and current staff assembled on the lawns of NCN Health’s Cobram campus on Wednesday, October 30, to mark the 75th year of the local hospital.
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It was an occasion not to be missed.
Celebrating both the hospital’s birthday with an open day for several new facilities, NCN Health staff ensured guests were kept well-fed with barbecue fare and, later, the obligatory birthday cake.
Long-time Cobram hospital nurse Di Nye and Cobram hospital board president (1983-2000) Leon West cut the cake.
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While staff led free guided tours through the campus’s Irvine House and new urgent care centre, the Ladies Auxillary raised funds for NCN Health with raffle ticket and homemade jam sales.
Several guest speakers including members of the NCN Health Board presented on the day, including former Cobram Hospital board presidents Leon West and Dale Brooks.
Current and former staff shared several anecdotes from their time working at the hospital.
Former registered nurse at Cobram hospital, Irene Twigg, began her career at the Cobram hospital in 1968 after relocating from Austin Hospital in Melbourne’s north-east.
Speaking after the event, she said her time at Cobram hospital was a very pleasant experience.
Back in the days before maternity leave, Mrs Twigg said the hospital administration fit the working roster around the staff’s family commitments as much as they could.
“[I had] wonderful workmates. The hospital looked after us really well,” she said.
She said securing her job at the Cobram hospital was a big learning experience for everyone involved. But Mrs Twigg found that help, when needed, was never far away.
After-hours nurse Genevieve Nelson, board president Dale Brooks (2015-2019) and after-hours nurse Fiona Currie.
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“If things got really tricky, you could always ring another person and ask for information, even when they were off-duty. It was incredible,” Mrs Twigg said.
She retired in 2005 after a 37-year career at the Cobram hospital.
NCN Health CEO Mark Ashcroft said the celebration provided an opportunity for everyone engaged with the health service to reflect on its achievements over the past 75 years.
“People are quite rightly protective and proud of service accessed locally, and one way to mark that importance is to celebrate the fact that there is a range of services still available locally,” he said.
“In the end, it requires all those people and those entities to contribute to the success that a health service has.
“[The Cobram hospital] is a health service that has been around for 75 years, but it hasn’t stood still. It has continued to grow and develop to serve the community.”
Moira Shire Council was also represented at the occasion by Chair Administrator Dr Graeme Emonson and Administrator Suzanna Sheed.
