Autumn 2012 Dear ISEPICH colleagues and friends
New ISEPICH Member
FROM THE CHAIR The Inner South East Partnership in Community and Health team has experienced substantial change in the past few months with the resignations of Anne Jungwirth, Executive Officer and Val Kay, Health Promotion Co‐ordinator. Anne has been with ISEPICH for approximately four years as Executive Officer and has worked hard to establish and main‐ tain strong and effective partnerships within our PCP as well as broader networks that have contributed to the work of Primary Care Partnerships across the State. Val has been a member of the ISEPICH team for ten years and during that time has provided leadership for our Health Promotion strategy and fos‐ tered a greater understanding of the role of health promotion and equity across our catchment. Additionally, Val has on many occasions assumed the role of Acting EO and ensured that the work of ISEPICH progressed effectively. On behalf of our partners I would like to thank both Anne and Val for their commitment to the role of Primary Care Partnerships and in particular their contribution to ISEPICH. We wish them both well for their future en‐ deavours. As you would appreciate we are now in a re‐building phase for the ISEPICH team. The recruitment process for the two roles is underway and I will provide further advice in the near future. In February the Minister for Health, David Davis, met with the Chairs of PCPs to gain an understanding of the relationship between PCPs and the newly established Medicare Locals. The Minister confirmed his commit‐ ment to the work of PCPs and intends to keep in touch to monitor the developing relationships between MLOs and the respective PCPs. It is with regret that I have received the resignation of Sandy Joffe from the ISEPICH Executive and as Chair of the Health Promotion Committee. As many of you will know Sandy is leaving her role at Port Phillip Community Group in June. Our sincere thanks is extended to Sandy for her leadership and contribution and we wish her all the very best for the future.
Warm regards, Anne Lyon ISEPICH Chair
Bayside Medicare Local Update
The Bayside Medicare Local Board has appointed Dr Elizabeth Deveny as the CEO. Elizabeth provided an overview of the work of the Medicare Local at the March ISEPICH Executive and will continue to keep us in‐ formed of developments as the work of Bayside ML progresses.
The official launch of Bayside ML on 27 March by the Federal Member for Isaacs, Mark Dreyfus attracted a diverse group of health professionals and representatives from across the Bayside ML catchment. Discussion on key primary health care and well‐being issues for the future was hosted by John Faine with a Q&A panel of local health experts. Bayside Medicare Local is on a membership drive to attract both organisational and individual members so please visit http://bml.org.au/ for more information.
In this issue we also welcome new member: Cabrini Health.
Community Participation The Community Advisory Group met just after Easter and advises of some changes to CAG membership. The current Chair, Ian Robinson has resigned as Chair but will remain on the CAG. A new Chair was elected at the meeting: John Wise. We welcome John to the Chair role and look forward to working closely with him in future. Van Apthorpe remains as Deputy Chair. The CAG would like to formally acknowledge Ian’s contribution to the CAG as Chair. Bianca Hatfield has resigned from the CAG effective immediately. The CAG also wished to thank Bianca for her significant contribu‐ tion to the CAG and wished her well for the future. The CAG wished to formally acknowledge the wonderful work of Anne Jungwirth and Val Kay for their extraordinary contribution to ISEPICH over the years, stating "We have been privileged to work with you and thank for your support guidance and dedication to ISEPICH as a whole and in par‐ ticular strengthening the knowledge and role of the CAG." It has been agreed that the main priorities for the June CAG meeting are the review of the workplan and the finalisation of the CAG Terms of Reference which are currently under review. The CAG currently has two membership vacancies. We will be advertising for community members in the near future. In‐ digenous and CALD members are encouraged to apply. Please contact kryan@portphillip.vic.gov.au for more information.