From the Executive Manager. Glenn Seri

From the Executive Manager

Hello and welcome to the winter edition of Living Healthy. 2022 has so far seen a continuation of the “new normal” with the country trying to navigate life with Covid-19. The so called “third wave” that has now taken Australia by storm, continues to impact many aspects of everyday life and shows no sign of slowing down. The winter months, reduction in travel and gathering restrictions have also led to a prolific flu season, with Influenza A particularly prevalent. All of this has placed undue pressure on the public health system at a time when our health workers are vulnerable due to fatigue after more than two years of battling a health crisis. We all love our diversions from everyday life, whether they are sporting or artistic and often the term “hero” is bandied about to describe our favourite stars, but the real heroes in our society are our front-line health workers. They have been putting themselves in harms way and helping the sick and vulnerable in our communities throughout this health crisis. They deserve a vote of thanks from all of us. The current restrictions that are being placed on elective surgery in the public system are seeing wait times and lists increase significantly and make having private health insurance more valuable than ever. I am extremely proud to announce that the Fund’s membership base grew by 4.41%, more than double the industry average for the 21/22 Financial Year. Profits were also strong and we are currently looking at ways to further give back to our Members in the coming months and create even better value for money. Recently, we received the results from our Member Satisfaction Survey completed earlier this year. We achieved excellent results with 97% of Members surveyed * saying they were satisfied with Queensland Country Health Fund. Our Members are our most important stakeholders and it is great to see that we have hit the mark regarding service and product design. Thank you to all of those Members who took the time to complete the survey and provide invaluable feedback. Make sure you take a look at just some of the great feedback we received on pages 14-15. In addition to these great results the Fund is extremely proud to celebrate 45 years of providing health insurance to our Members and we look forward to continuing this for many more years to come. Also, in this edition of Living Healthy enjoy an article from our brand ambassador and Member, Laura Geitz who talks about her hometown and shares her late grandmother's recipe. Loretta Woodford from Parentmedic North Qld discusses burns awareness including some key tips and James from Australian Nutrition Centre asks the question "Are you suffering from adrenal fatigue?" Finally, I would like to thank the staff at Queensland Country, they have worked particularly hard this year amongst plenty of distractions and absenteeism to deliver outstanding service to our Members. Thank you once again to our loyal Members and I hope you enjoy this edition. Healthy Regards, Glenn Seri Executive Manager

* Source: January 2022 Member Satisfaction Survey, 70% were very satisfied and 27% were somewhat satisfied from 1,528 respondents.