Supporting our local health professionals to work in the local community

Danielle Williams is grateful for her work/life balance.

As a working mother of three, the Doreen resident is busy making school lunches and ferrying children to after school activities.

But for three days each week she enjoys the opportunity to swap her motherly duties to provide nursing support to the local community.

“I love my job as a nurse and am so fortunate to work locally, in the past at the nearby hospital and currently in the local community setting,” Danielle said.

“These days most households have both parents working, be it part-time or full-time. Working locally makes the work/life balance so much easier. It has allowed me to remain in the workforce, and gives me the flexibility to be there at home also whilst the kids grow up. I don’t think I would be able to juggle both if I had to drive in and out of the city each day for work.”

Danielle is one of the fortunate health care professionals who is able to find skilled work in the local

community.

Unlike Danielle, 65 per cent of local residents working in the health sector (the most popular sector for local residents) have to travel outside the area to access employment or take a lower skilled job.

Many are travelling up to 90 minutes each morning and night to access inner city locations where these jobs are available.

Whittlesea Council is looking to establish a health and wellbeing hub in Mernda to provide essential health services to the community and give qualified health professionals an opportunity to work

locally.

Mayor, Cr Lawrie Cox said the Mernda Health and Wellbeing Hub would create more than 300 local jobs and bring together allied health, counselling, family support, maternal and child health, occupational health and physiotherapy services under the one roof.

“The Mernda Health and Wellbeing Hub could create local jobs through direct employment,” he said.

Research shows that a lack of local jobs means highly skilled women living in growth areas like Doreen and Mernda are sacrificing their career to take lower skilled jobs closer to home to enable them to fulfil caring responsibilities.”

Mayor Cox said Council was asking the Federal Government to provide $755,000 in funding to develop a concept plans for the facility with a view of constructing the hub by 2022.