At its 23rd Annual General Meeting this week in Canberra, the 37 organisations in the National Rural Health Alliance elected a strong and experienced Executive for the coming twelve months.
Continuity is assured with the re-election of Tim Kelly, Lesley Barclay and Nicole O-Reilly as Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Honorary Treasurer, respectively.
Tim represents the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) on Council of the Alliance and has been Chairperson since November 2013. He has been a procedural rural GP in South Australia's Mid North and is now CEO of the Adelaide to Outback GP Training Program. Lesley is Director of the University Centre of Rural Health, North Coast, for Sydney University and is a previous Chairperson. Nicole is a senior officer with NT Department of Health and previously President of Occupational Therapy Australia. Nicole has already made an outstanding contribution to Council and Board of the NRHA.
Kathy Kirkpatrick returns to the Executive as Honorary Secretary, with Lindy Swain from Lismore joining the Executive for the first time. The other five members of the Executive determined at this week's meeting are Geri Malone, Greg Mundy, Lyndon Seys, Gordon Stacey and Lynne Strathie. (Further details about these people, including the organisation they represent, can be seen at http://ruralhealth.org.au/about/council.)
Tim thanked his two colleagues who stood down from the previous Executive: Lisa McInerney and Phil Anderton. Lisa McInerney was Honorary Secretary for two years and served for three and a half years as delegate on Council for the Rural and Indigenous Health Interest Group of the Chiropractic Association of Australia. Lisa has left the NRHA Council and members of Council wished her well for the future.
Tim paid special tribute to Phil Anderton, who remains on Council as the representative of the Rural Optometry Group of Optometry Australia. Such is his popularity, his remaining on Council will certainly minimise the production of tears that would otherwise have resulted. Phil is always willing to give a large hand when something needs to be done, gliding from challenge to challenge without ever blowing his own tuba. Most recently Phil was a member of the Finance and Audit Advisory Committee.
Phil practices as a part-time optometrist in Manilla, NSW, and has a keen interest in the development of multidisciplinary solutions to the disadvantage experienced by rural and Aboriginal communities in affordable vision and eye health care. As he said at this week's CouncilFest, he wants them all to be able to C#.
Contacts:
Tim Kelly – Chairperson: 0438 011 383
Gordon Gregory – Executive Director: 02 6285 4660