Lismore City Council Purchasing Officer Rod Thistleton, Mayor Jenny Dowell and Technical Officer Carolyn Moynihan (front) with Council staff in their pink workshirts supporting the Real Men Wear Pink campaign.

Lismore in the pink for breast cancer.

Lismore City Council outdoor staff and others are going pink in support of Council’s Works Depot Technical Officer Carolyn Moynihan who was diagnosed with breast cancer and has undergone a bilateral mastectomy.

While the 50-year-old is now on the road to recovery, the news shocked her colleagues, including and Purchasing Officer Rod Thistleton who came up with the idea of joining the ‘Real Men Wear Pink’ fundraising campaign.

Early on the morning of 30 October, Carolyn watched as around 150 staff donned their new pink workwear and headed out in their trucks.

“I was so moved,” Carolyn said. “Rod had wanted to do something for a while and he found these pink Bisley workshirts online and I thought it was a great idea. Then it just got bigger and bigger. 

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Attendees at the ‘R U Appy’ launch in Lismore, NSW.

The launch of a Commonwealth funded training program to help Aboriginal and other health professionals better use apps and internet-based programs with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients was held in Lismore, NSW on 2 October 2014.

‘R U Appy’, the North Coast Aboriginal e-Social and Emotional Wellbeing Training Program, brings together work done by the University Centre for Rural Health (UCRH), the Menzies School of Health Research (NT) and Queensland University of Technology. Additional input was received from the Black Dog Institute, Macquarie University and the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council

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Dr Lindy Swain

 Pharmacist Academic Lindy Swain from the University Centre for Rural Health North Coast (UCRH) has received the Pharmacist of the Year award from the Pharmaceutical Society of Australian (PSA).

The award is in recognition of Lindy Swain’s leadership and advocacy in rural pharmacy and Aboriginal Health.

Her academic involvements have included supervising pharmacy students undertaking Aboriginal health and medication tutorials, pharmacy assistant placements for local Aboriginal students at TAFE, and coordinating multidisciplinary placements for pharmacy undergraduates in various clinical settings.

She works one day a week at Bullinah Aboriginal Health Service in Ballina where she counsels patients about their medicines and conducts medication reviews.

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Kevin Hogan and NNSW LHD Executive director Lynne Weir (left) brief Assistant Minister for Health Senator Fiona Nash about the upgrade of Casino Hospital ED during a recent visit.

 The tender to redevelop the Emergency Department at Casino & District Memorial Hospital has been awarded Woollam Constructions.

Announcing the successful tenderer, the Federal MP Page Kevin Hogan said, “It is well known that the current ED at Casino Hospital has poor space utilisation and in need of a major upgrade. The Coalition Government has provided $3 million to the Northern NSW Local Health District to fund this redevelopment.”

The ED redevelopment will include a new Triage area, two new Resuscitation Bays, Four new Treatment Bays, redesigned Ambulance entry, a dedicated ED Staff Room and Improved security.

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Mid North Coast LHD Director of Allied Health and Integrated Care, Bronwyn Chalker, UCRH Research Fellow, Dr Jennifer Johnston, PMBH ED Director, Dr Steven Ross, PMBH Registered Nurse, Colleen Boyd and UCRH Lead Researcher Dr Megan Passey. Photo: Lynn Lelean, MNC LHD.

In a milestone trial starting in the Mid North Coast, chronic disease patients admitted to hospital will be participating in research to evaluate how the number of admissions might be reduced.

The four-month Diagnosing Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations (DaPPHne) project is being conducted by the University Centre for Rural Health North Coast. The project is in partnership with and funded by the Mid North Coast Local Health District, the North Coast NSW Medicare Local, and the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. The University of Western Sydney is also involved.

The study’s lead researcher, Dr Megan Passey said the research will focus primarily on patients at Port Macquarie Base and Coffs Harbour Hospitals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive, or chronic, heart failure (CHF), diabetes complications and angina. These chronic conditions affect many older people.

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