28 Apr Celebrating the beating heart of TDHS: our staff and volunteers!

Our Annual Heart of TDHS Staff and Volunteer Awards event was held on Tuesday 11 March at Timboon and District Healthcare Service (TDHS) acknowledging and celebrating the great work that our staff and volunteers do. It’s often difficult to stop and take time out of our busy day-to-day schedules to formally recognize the fantastic work that our team does.  

On the day the following Awards were recognized and applauded:

• Length of Service Award
• Heart of TDHS Volunteer Award; an award nominated by peers for the volunteer who goes above and beyond
• Heart of TDHS ICARE Dr Peter Fox Staff Award recognising the most outstanding staff member, nominated by peers, who continually makes a difference, constantly goes above and beyond demonstrating our ICARE values of Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Empathy in all they do.

The TDHS Length of Service Awards were presented to the following staff:

Deborah Foster 10 years

Rhonda Johnstone 15 years

The collective number of years our TDHS volunteers have dedicated to our healthcare service since its inception is boundless and TDHS is grateful for all our volunteers and their dedicated hard work, depth of commitment and the invaluable donation of their gift of time and energy. We could not operate without our volunteers; they make our community stronger, especially during times of need, crisis, or isolation.

The Heart of TDHS Volunteer Award is for the Most Outstanding Service as a volunteer, who is nominated by their peers for going above and beyond their duty as a volunteer and this year’s winner was John Fox, who volunteers at TDHS for Meals on Wheels, Community Transport and is also a member of our Consumer Advisory Committee. John was nominated because of his ability to live out the ICARE values in all that he does at TDHS.

General Practitioner Dr Warwick Rouse received the ICARE Dr Peter Fox Staff Award. The Award is named after Dr Peter Fox, who served the community for over 50 years and whose work defines the history of our healthcare service, and we were very privileged to have one of his children, John Fox, helping present this special award and join us in the celebrations.

Several TDHS peers nominated Warwick for displaying our TDHS values, including his positive, kind and caring nature and beautiful bedside manner with consumers and staff alike. “Warwick’s outstanding dedication to the community he serves and to the ICARE values is evident in everything he does. His commitment to ethical care and his empathetic approach to patients is a huge asset and I believe Warwick is well-deserved of recognition for his outstanding service to our community and TDHS.” 

Upon receiving the award, Warwick said: “I felt surprised because I wasn’t expecting it, and I did feel very honoured.” Dr Rouse said the award held special meaning to him due to a past connection with the award’s namesake. Peter Fox was a founding doctor at TDHS, with his influence across the growth and standards of the health service lingering prominently to this day.

ICARE Dr Peter Fox Staff Award winner Warwick Rouse

Service award winner Rhonda Johnstone (15 years)

group photo of the award winners, and nominees