3 minute read
VIC/TAS
VIC/TAS BRANCH REPORT
The activities of the IHEA have not been at the front of everyone’s mind for the past couple of years because, let’s face it, most Hospital Engineers and Facilities Managers have been heavily in demand. We have all endured the shared experience of providing an environment conducive to the provision of safe, consistent care to our communities in the midst of a pandemic.
Many of us have spent long hours designing and implementing systems to mitigate the risk of COVID transmission. These have usually been focussed on the control of airflow and we have become experts on air scrubbers and portable HEPA filters.
Apart from our members not having free time it has been difficult to arrange meaningful activities when we cannot meet face to face. Because of this the essence of our face to face meetings being networking and the information sharing of informal conversations has been lost. We have arranged a few online meetings but the collegial experience is not the same.
The National conference in Perth was well attended in May and effective in breathing some life back into the personal experience of being an IHEA member.
We as the Vic/Tas Committee of Management thought we had a great idea for a first PD which is a tour of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project which runs past the Royal Melbourne hospital. Although the concept is good it depends on actions from a few third parties which are dragging on. This will still be an excellent event at some point in the future but we really need to plan some informative PDs for our members to meet each other and possibly even have a site tour of a facility.
We have also had some resignations from the Vic/Tas CoM recently which is to be expected as time goes by.
Getting the vitality back into the Vic/Tas branch following the pandemic has been a lot more difficult than any of us anticipated which is why we are now reaching out to our members for help. We are requesting three things from our members; 1/. If you have or know of a venue where 30 or so members could get together, listen to a presentation from fellow members and a sponsor go on a site tour and then enjoy a light luncheon provided by the sponsor then please contact me and I will be most happy to assist in the arrangements. We have sponsors who are eager to be involved. 2/. We need some fresh ideas in the Vic/Tas branch. If you have ever considered contributing to the state committee, then now is a great opportunity. Because we are all very busy, the duties of the committee are structured to be time efficient. We meet once a month online, there may be some follow up activities from the monthly meeting such as communicating with sponsors or arranging activities around a PD but generally the time taken in the fulfilment of these items is about an hour per month. If you can contribute to this then your input would be greatly valued. Please contact me to discuss your interest and availability, I will be happy to discuss the time commitment to make sure that it fits in with your availability before you make any commitments. 3/. When you see the next notice for a PD please do your best to attend. We get excited when we can get members together as we did before the pandemic to reconnect, share and renew friendships.
Please contact us on ihea.victas@ihea.org.au
Steve Ball
Member Vic/Tas CoM.
National Board Member..
