Uncle Pete Smith, Gundagai LHAC Chairperson, encourages the community to attend the Local Health Advisory Committee Community Health Chat ‘Open Session’ later in the month to learn about their role in the community.
On Thursday 16 October from 2pm at the Gundagai District Services Club, Gundagai’s Local Health Advisory Committee (LHAC) will be holding an Open Session, where they will provide the opportunity for the community to get to know who they are and what their role is in the community.
Lesley Kingwill and Janni Thompson from the LHAC said they hope the open session will provide the community with the opportunity to learn about and understand the LHAC’s role in the community.
“This chat will really be an opportunity for the community to get to know local LHAC members and to develop an understanding of the role of LHACs in our area.”
“We are hoping to inform the community about who we are, what we do and to get the information out there about us,” Janni said.
“It is really about making our faces known to people, so they know who to approach if they’ve got concerns or are looking for information,” said Lesley.
“We will also be encouraging people to call Healthdirect to take the pressure off local Doctors and the hospital. There will be a representative from the Primary Health Network to provide information about Healthdirect. Healthdirect is a fantastic initiative to help take the pressure off local health services,” said Lesley.
“We will also be talking about projects we have done in the past that have addressed health within the community at our open day, such as health banners we have produced which cover a wide range of topics,” Lesley said.
“We are also advocating for allied health services within the community – we haven’t had a Physiotherapist at the hospital for quite some time now, the wheels are in motion to have permanent physio hours per week established at the hospital, which is important for people to have access to these services within their own community,” Lesley said.
“We are also in the process of completing a powerpoint presentation that will be displayed at the hospital and medical centre, which will bring awareness to a variety of services available across the health sector, and how to access them.”
Each year the LHAC receives some funding from the MPHN, and previously the committee bought 2 televisions to display these power-points at the hospital and medical centre.
“We’re a conduit between our community, the MLHD and MPHN, and we aim to provide information that improves health literacy within the community and take the concerns of the community back to the MLHD, in the hope of improving the resources and services within the community,” said Lesley.
“We come from all different backgrounds with our own life experiences that add to the value of the group, but what we all have in common and at the front of mind is the wellbeing of the community. We want to address community members’ concerns around health in the district,” said Lesley.
The LHAC meets on the third Thursday of every month at the Gundagai Hospital, and in that time they discuss projects in the pipeline, address any community concerns and how they can find resolutions. Gundagai’s LHAC currently has 7 members, but they are hoping they get some new members out of the Open Session.
“We’ve had a couple of members resign, so we would really love a couple of new members because it is really important to have a quorum each meeting, so it would be fantastic to have a couple more members,” Janni said.
There are no criteria to be on the Committee, but you will receive a police check.
“Anybody who has a little bit of time to give and is interested in supporting the community would be fantastic. It is only an hour and a half a month to attend a meeting, and there is not a huge amount of time that goes into it. Most of it is having conversations and finding out what their views of facilities are and information in town, as well as how easy it is to access information,” Lesley said.
The current LHAC committee consists of Uncle Peter Smith – Chairperson, Cate Minogue – Vice Chair, Bonita Taylor – Publicity Officer, Lesley Kingwill – Secretary, Janni Thompson, Aunty Sony Piper and Hope Cooper.
– Emily Flint
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