Farewell to our wellbeing champion

Suellen Bruce has been a Western Health champion in every sense of the word, pursuing the best for our people and patients.

It’s rare to find a colleague who consistently exceeds everyone’s expectations, those that precede their arrival at an organisation, and the ones that will inevitably follow throughout their career.

In Sue’s case (as she’s known to most), there was praise aplenty, but none of it could adequately encompass all of the fantastic qualities we have seen on display over the past nine years at Western Health.

While I have outlined many of her accolades in a recent bulletin announcing her retirement, which you can read here, I wanted to take a moment to recognise the legacy Sue will leave when it comes to the health and wellbeing of staff.

Her commitment to creating a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace has been invaluable.

Under her leadership, she spearheaded our positive workplace initiative, which has seen many wonderful strategies, some of which include: EMPOWIR, our employee positive issue resolution process, and SCORE, our sustaining a culture of respect and engagement program of work.

Sue has also overseen our efforts to reduce occupational violence at work, as well as supported many leadership development programs and our capability framework, which continues to enable our people to grow and develop and be their best.

We have all been tested during the pandemic, but our people have risen to the challenges. It’s a credit to our staff and their commitment to our community, and each other.

Sue has been there every step of the way, working with the senior leadership team to create, reinforce and sustain the strong foundations of our health service and the impact of the improvements we have made will be felt for many years to come.

She has also supported many wellbeing initiatives, including: wellness hubs, psychologists support on site, and let’s not forget the many morale boosters and pop ups including hampers, skin care packages, donuts, footy pie days and our many barbeques.

I’ve had the privilege of Suellen’s wise counsel over the years, admiring her ability to know the hot spots before they ignite.

She has demonstrated an ability to think critically and creatively, but always with compassion.

Sue has also injected a sense of fun into her work- how many CEO’s have their own cartoon cardboard cut-out? Who else would have thought a visit from the Mr Whippy van would become the perfect antidote for staff sweltering in the summer heat?

Underpinning these initiatives is a serious commitment to the safety and wellbeing of our people and a recognition that we need to prioritise our people, so they can continue to provide the best care to our community.

We’ll all have things we will miss about Sue.  For me, it’s her integrity, leadership, work ethic and good humour.

I’m thankful for her service and wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement.

I’d also like to take the opportunity to welcome Sandy Schutte, who is acting in the role of Executive Director People, Culture and Communications for the next eight months whilst we recruit to the role substantively.

For those of you who know Sandy, and those who have yet to meet her, I am sure you will see that she brings her own unique style, experiences and passion to the role and will continue to lead us forward.