The remarkable women at Western Health were celebrated in the lead up to International Women's Day (IWD) last week, at our inaugural IWD webinar.
Nominated by their peers, Lily Lui, Divisional Director Digital Health, Mei Ling Wong, Operations Manager Food Services, Joanne Spiteri, Sunshine Hospital administration, Dr Emily Zdilar, Hospital Medical Officer and Carol Erichsen, Nurse Unit Manager, Mental Health Services, formed a panel that talked about their career paths, challenges they've faced, and shared some advice.
Facilitated by Anne Wright, Director Organisational Culture and Leadership Development, it was a celebration of all women at all levels, and across all sites and divisions at Western Health, and an opportunity to share insights into how they manage their careers, how they fit them around their lives, and advice for others forging their own careers at Western Health.
Executive Director – People, Culture and Communications Sandy Schutte said she was thrilled to see the event come together.
'We wanted to showcase some of the many incredible women we have here at Western Health and in our communities, and this event did just that.
'We sent out an invitation, asking our staff to nominate a colleague who inspires positive change through their excellence in health care – and makes meaningful impact on our workplace and the broader community.
'Incredibly, we received almost 100 nominations, shining a light on the work and character of some incredible individuals right across our organisation.'
At Western Health, 3 in every 4 employees here at Western Health are women. This year’s IWD theme – 'March Forward – for ALL women and girls' – is in line with Western Health’s approach to pursuing gender equity.
Western Health CEO Russell Harrison shared the organisation-wide committment to ensuring the organisation is a leader in this space, taking positive action towards achieving workplace equality and inclusion.
'Just as we aim to provide Best Care for all – women, men, children, gender diverse people – we also want to be a great employer for all,' he said.
Western Health’s Gender Equity Action Plan, first established in 2022 and expanding every year since, is a key pillar of this vitally important work.
Some of the highlights that have been achieved from this plan are:
New, modern guidelines for rostering for nurses and midwives, which means we're now offering greater flexibility, better work/life balance, improved fatigue management and fairer rosters.
Promoting and improving access to parental leave to people of all genders.
Analysis of the pay gaps between genders across our organisation, with plans for further investigation.
Building diversity, equity and inclusion measures into workforce planning.
Continual improvement of family violence prevention and response practices for employees.
Campaigns addressing gendered stereotypes, and outdated thinking about suitability of professions for different genders.
'I’m so proud that we took time to pause and reflect, to recognise International Women’s Day, and to celebrate some of our most inspiring women at Western Health,' Russell said.
In introducing the panellists on Friday, Russell shared some of the nominations they received from the peers.
'Words like kind, supporting, inspiring, welcoming, compassionate, above and beyond, collaborative and genuine were all used to describe Lily, JoAnne, Mei, Emily and Carol.
'These nominations are great examples of the many extraordinary women we’re lucky to have on staff here at Western Health. Every day, you’re modelling great leadership and great behaviour for your colleagues at Western Health.'
