Ms Manoel has been working hard, along with BHHS staff, as the health service continues to deliver high quality care during a pandemic. Her focus is on patient centred care, prioritising complaints by dealing with them personally.
“The past six months has been both rewarding and challenging, especially with COVID-19. I’m so proud that staff, including nurses, doctors and admin and support staff, have continued to work very hard and diligently to ensure our services continue as much as possible without interruption and that we continue to deliver the high quality care the community expects and deserves,” Julie said.
BHHS has implemented some exciting new models of care including a Virtual Intensive Care (vICU) service, a collaboration between Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Broken Hill Health Service, and the new Telestroke service.
“While we continue to deal with COVID-19, we are also all looking forward to major upcoming projects to improve our hospital,” Julie said.
These projects include the NSW Government’s recent announcements of $10 million to upgrade the hospital’s Emergency Department and its acute Mental Health Inpatient Unit (MHIPU), which is being delivered as part of the $700 million state-wide mental health infrastructure program – the largest investment in mental health care infrastructure by a NSW Government.
“These two major redevelopments are the latest upgrades to the hospital, following the redevelopment of the Outpatients and Medical Imaging departments in recent years,” Julie said.
“We are very excited to be moving forward with the planning and can’t wait to see the redevelopment take shape.”
Julie said she was very lucky and thankful to be leading the Broken Hill Health Service at this exciting time.
“It is a privilege and very rewarding. I’m here to help all our staff deliver the care and services for all our communities,” Julie said.
Julie, born and bred in Broken Hill, wants to ‘get back to basics’ and focus on our patients and their individual needs.
She trained as an Enrolled Nurse in the ‘old’ hospital and then went and completed her Registered Nurse training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Julie was in the last group of nurses to be hospital trained.
Julie re-joined the Far West LHD six years ago, and during this time worked as an After Hours Nurse Manager at the hospital and has acted as deputy DONM.
Ms Manoel took up her role as DONM/Site Manager on 7 February 2022.
BHHS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS BACKGROUND NOTES:
The upgrade to the acute Mental Health Inpatient Unit (MHIPU) is being delivered as part of the NSW Government’s $700 million Statewide Mental Health Infrastructure Program. Once complete, the upgraded facilities will provide a modern contemporary therapeutic space with co-designed facilities for people with mental health needs, their families, carers and staff. Master planning has commenced and design options for the MHIPU are currently being developed.
The NSW Government is also investing $10 million in upgrading the hospital’s Emergency Department, complementing the MHIPU upgrade. The Emergency Department will be reconfigured to better meet the critical health needs of the region, including tailored treatment spaces for children and those requiring mental health services. The upgrade is part of the NSW Government’s $500 million investment in rural and regional health infrastructure and services announced in November 2021.