Few people in their lifetime will achieve what Jan Child did in her time at Bass Coast Health. By Mary Whelan
IT IS with pleasure I write a few words about Jan Child from my time when Jan was CEO of Bass Coast Health (BCH) and I was a member of the Board, and Chair of the Quality and Clinical Governance Committee for five of the nine years. I joined the board in 2015 and retired in June this year. I do not speak for the board; they are my personal comments only.
A little background is important.
In 2015 when I and two others (Tim Large and Don Paproth) joined the board, many small, regional and rural health services were struggling financially. They also faced the increasing challenge of providing care for patients with more complex health conditions with few specialists available locally. Wonthaggi hospital was also experiencing these difficulties.
IT IS with pleasure I write a few words about Jan Child from my time when Jan was CEO of Bass Coast Health (BCH) and I was a member of the Board, and Chair of the Quality and Clinical Governance Committee for five of the nine years. I joined the board in 2015 and retired in June this year. I do not speak for the board; they are my personal comments only.
A little background is important.
In 2015 when I and two others (Tim Large and Don Paproth) joined the board, many small, regional and rural health services were struggling financially. They also faced the increasing challenge of providing care for patients with more complex health conditions with few specialists available locally. Wonthaggi hospital was also experiencing these difficulties.
The next few years were a time of significant change. A crisis in care at Djerriwah Health Services in 2015 led Health Minister Jill Hennessy to commission an in-depth investigation and analysis of the hospital system across Victoria. This revealed a need for a significant overhaul of the quality and safety of care across the Victorian hospital system, with extra support needed for boards of smaller health services. Safer Care Victoria was formed in 2017 to lead these changes.
I met Jan Child in March 2016 when the Board of Bass Coast Health appointed her to the role of Acting CEO. Jan had been recommended by the Department of Health in the interim until a new CEO was recruited. Jan had worked in executive director roles at Frankston Hospital and had the knowledge and skill set to implement change.
I met Jan Child in March 2016 when the Board of Bass Coast Health appointed her to the role of Acting CEO. Jan had been recommended by the Department of Health in the interim until a new CEO was recruited. Jan had worked in executive director roles at Frankston Hospital and had the knowledge and skill set to implement change.
Job done
Oct 22, 2024 - Bass Coast Health’s CEO Jan Child has stepped down after eight tumultuous years during which she transformed local health services. |
In her years at BCH Jan was a highly capable leader of a large workforce, a visionary who also understood and embraced community and volunteers, and a strong voice to argue the case for BCH wherever and whenever needed.
Jan’s own punishing work ethic never faltered. She oversaw new executive appointments that raised the standard of quality and clinical governance and contemporary financial and IT systems laid the foundations for a service which would deliver high quality, safe care close to where people live, and financial rigour needed for the service to grow. |
This commitment led the staff and community and assisted the board through the dark times of Covid. While Victoria tuned in to see Dan Andrews daily at 11am, Jan provided the Bass Coast community with regular updates about our staff and our patients. The good news and the bad were there to make sure everyone was informed.
It was a very difficult time for the whole community and probably only those close to front line really understood the pivotal role BCH played. While many aged care residents across Australia died, BCH was able to keep all our residents and staff free from Covid, a truly remarkable achievement.
Back to the future. The securing of partnerships with a number of major metro hospitals, including The Alfred, Monash and Frankston, enables more specialists to visit locally, providing publicly funded outpatient clinics, more diagnostic services and day surgery, and urgent beds that are available for Wonthaggi patients needing higher levels of care.
On Jan Child’s watch, we have seen the redevelopment of the Wonthaggi Hospital with the most modern theatres, increased emergency department beds and a paediatric service in the planning, the upgrading of The Hub to the Urgent Care Centre at Phillip Island, the establishment of the RL Rigby Cancer Centre and the Phillip Island Community Hospital, scheduled for completion in 2025.
Every important journey has challenges but we will meet few people who in their lifetime will have the resume of Jan Child’s eight-year tenure at Bass Coast Health. Even fewer will be afforded the warmth and appreciation the Bass Coast community has for our warrior of change.
It was a very difficult time for the whole community and probably only those close to front line really understood the pivotal role BCH played. While many aged care residents across Australia died, BCH was able to keep all our residents and staff free from Covid, a truly remarkable achievement.
Back to the future. The securing of partnerships with a number of major metro hospitals, including The Alfred, Monash and Frankston, enables more specialists to visit locally, providing publicly funded outpatient clinics, more diagnostic services and day surgery, and urgent beds that are available for Wonthaggi patients needing higher levels of care.
On Jan Child’s watch, we have seen the redevelopment of the Wonthaggi Hospital with the most modern theatres, increased emergency department beds and a paediatric service in the planning, the upgrading of The Hub to the Urgent Care Centre at Phillip Island, the establishment of the RL Rigby Cancer Centre and the Phillip Island Community Hospital, scheduled for completion in 2025.
Every important journey has challenges but we will meet few people who in their lifetime will have the resume of Jan Child’s eight-year tenure at Bass Coast Health. Even fewer will be afforded the warmth and appreciation the Bass Coast community has for our warrior of change.