With three decades of experience in the community services and education sectors, the incoming chair of NCN Health has not been discouraged by the huge challenges facing the organisation that oversees a range of services across the Moira Shire, including emergency, residential aged care, dental and GP services.
“I had been on a couple of volunteer boards previously and I wanted to step up,” she said.
NCN Health was created in 2019 from a voluntary amalgamation of the Nathalia, Cobram and Numurkah health services, and its catchment takes in southern NSW, including Finley, Tocumwal and Barooga.
“NCN, since its amalgamation, has been lucky to have Dale Brooks as the inaugural chair,” Ms Quibell said.
“He was coming to the end of his tenure and I’m very grateful for the mentoring that I continue to get from Dale.
“It’s a great opportunity for local community members, particularly, for stepping up into these roles.”
Apart from the daily challenges health services face in the current environment, NCN Health is also focusing on major projects within its campuses.
“We’re operating from ageing services,” Ms Quibell said.
“One of our big projects is our Cobram hospital, which is an ageing facility. The hospital itself needs a major refurbishment.
“The development of a master plan for our Cobram hospital is a major focus for us.”
NCN Health is also leading a community campaign to have the Pioneers Memorial Lodge aged care facility in Numurkah rebuilt.
“Pioneers Lodge is a priority. We’ve been getting some great traction in that (campaign),” Ms Quibell said.
“Our community continues to push. We’ve had in excess of 160 letters (sent to the state government), we obviously can’t keep tally of everyone, which is a great effort from our local community.”
Ms Quibell acknowledges, however, that one of the most pressing challenges for the health service is the ongoing difficulty filling job vacancies.
“We’re facing significant workforce challenges,” she said.
“The work that our nurses and all that our staff do across the board demonstrates their commitment to their ongoing community. They are doing extra shifts, they are exhausted.
“Everything we can do to assist them we are doing. We are spending more to bring in people on short-term contracts.”
With plenty on her agenda, Ms Quibell is urging others to throw their names forward when board positions are advertised later this year.
She said professional health experience was not vital, but a commitment to providing the best possible services to the local community was.