Health gets Australian Day nod

28 January 2011

The achievements of three Department of Health employees were recognised in this year's Australia Day Honours.

The Public Service Medal was awarded to Mr Lance Wallace, Professor Chris Brook and Ms Jacqui Hickey for their outstanding service to the public service.

The Public Service Medal recognises outstanding service by employees of the Commonwealth Government and state, territory and local government employees.

Department of Health Secretary, Fran Thorn, acknowledged the great achievements of the three employees and her pleasure at the recognition of their achievements.

“On behalf of the department, I congratulate Lance, Chris and Jacqui on their well deserved honours, and thank them for their hard work and commitment in their respective fields. Each has gone beyond the standard to the extraordinary, and I am delighted that this has been recognised,” Ms Thorn said.

“It’s a great honour to be recognised in the 2011 Australia Day Honours and I am extremely pleased that their outstanding work has been so publicly recognised.”

Lance Wallace was recognised for driving significant improvement in the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of Victorian health and human services. One of the areas in which Lance was recognised was his achievements in industrial relations, as he has been responsible for leading enterprise bargaining agreements in an extremely complex and challenging environment since 1997.

Professor Chris Brook was recognised for his work in leading improvements in the quality and safety of patient outcomes, national blood supply, public health, and rural and regional health services. Chris has worked for the Department of Health and its predecessors since 1988, and during this time was responsible for leading significant improvements to the Victorian primary health care system, particularly in relation to coordination and continuity of care, as well as better health service delivery in rural and regional areas.

Jacqui Hickey was recognised for her regional coordination and orderly evacuation of residential health and aged care facilities during bushfire seasons. During both the 2006 and 2009 bushfires in Gippsland, Jacqui was instrumental in guiding and informing health services in surveying and assessing alternative accommodation options, as well as managing logistical issues associated with proposed evacuations. Her work during the 2009 Gippsland fires ensured the smooth evacuation of vulnerable patients and residents from facilities at risk, and their placement into suitable alternative accommodation.