GORH 2023 2024 Highlights

This year has been a GREAT year for Great Ocean Road Health.
First and foremost thank you to our great team, our wonderful staff go above and beyond to deliver extraordinary care to our clients, our leadership team and Board for their vision, dedication and passion, our volunteers for your compassion and support, and to our community. Together we make a significant difference and provide great healthcare.
Improved infrastructure, the successful completion of projects such as the new Community Services Building in Apollo Bay and the Nurse Call project is a testament to our newly appointed Infrastructure Projects Manager Kerry Bubica, with the help of the Support Services Manager, Janet Smartt and the Facilities Coordinator, Orlaigh O’Donnell. The expansion of the infusion services at both Lorne and Apollo Bay has meant that over 200 clients were able to be treated locally reducing the need to travel to Geelong or Colac, and extending the lives of several community members.
Our neighbourhood houses at Lorne and Apollo Bay continue to meet the changing needs of our communities. The food pantry at Marrar Woorn has been reinvigorated thanks to additional storage and regular deliveries from Foodbank. 850 kilos of food is distributed through the food pantry every week, including 100 kilos of vegetables and 50 kilos of fruit. With rising costs of living, the importance of providing fresh food and supplies to members of our community in need is vital. A toy library and further groups for young families have also been provided, including a Youth Art Group, sponsored by local community groups such as Community Bank and Second Sails Op Shop.
Staff culture remains very positive. Our great staff embody our values: Genuine, Respect, Empathy, Accountable, Teamwork. Recruitment and retention have been the highest workforce priorities, leading us to explore different recruitment strategies.
Great Ocean Road Health undertook a review of urgent care presentations to ensure that clients were seen at the right place, at the right time and by the most appropriate practitioner, ensuring timely access to great healthcare every time.
Our Community Services continue to provide excellent services in the community and have been successfully accredited for community aged care for both Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme. Great Ocean Road Health has also undergone the process to extend our NDIS registration to include community supports.
Our GREAT volunteers do an amazing job assisting us to provide services for our community and care for our clients. Thank you to all of our Volunteers for their support and the financial contributions from Second Sails Op Shop and Lorne Op Shop. We continue to actively listen to and respond to our consumers via our very active Community Advisory Committee, our complaints and compliments process, our community liaison staff and the implementation of Care Opinion, also adds to the way we engage with our community.
Our Aged Care montessori virtual world tour commenced in 2024, taking Residents on a rewarding and enriching experience providing a sense of adventure and social connection. Celebrating food and activities from each country visited, these experiences have brought together residents from both campuses and have been a highlight for both residents and staff.
We continue to work with our health service partners in the Barwon South West region with projects with the Primary Health Network, both the Surf Coast and Colac Otway Shire and are active members of community organisations in both Lorne and Apollo Bay. This year we welcomed new partners to the Your Care Path alliance; Colac Area Health and Hesse Rural Health.
We continue to rely on the support of our dedicated Board of Directors, our volunteers and our supportive communities to continue to provide services in challenging times.
It's been a great year and we are looking forward to continuing to grow and improve in 2025.