Katherine West Health Board wins prestigious awards for teamwork

Katherine West Health Board (KWHB) was recently awarded Primary Health Care Service of the Year at the NTPHN Health Professional of the Year Awards, recognising the phenomenal team effort of Board Directors, community members and staff throughout the 2023 Timber Creek, Kalkaringi, Daguragu and Nitjpurru floods. 

KWHB was also honoured with the prestigious Administrator’s Medal for exceptional leadership, dedication and contribution to health care.   

The NTPHN awards recognise exceptional individuals and organisations who have demonstrated unwavering excellence in their respective fields. KWHB was nominated for Primary Health Care Service of the Year for going above and beyond to support clients and provide continuous and quality primary health care throughout the challenging year. 

After community members were evacuated from the flooded region in March 2023, KWHB took the lead in setting up a primary health care centre at the Centre for National Resilience, ensuring clients received quality care from familiar faces. At the same time, KWHB’s four major health centres continued to be operational despite flooding impacting road access and vital supplies for weeks at a time. Additionally, KWHB’s management and corporate team worked closely with stakeholders to ensure key recovery efforts were underway to support community members to return to country. 

“This year when our communities suffered unimaginable loss from catastrophic floods, our crew worked around the clock making sure everyone was cared for. Even those who lost everything themselves, were showing up day after day after day and working for their mob.” Sinon Cooney CEO said. 

“We don’t always take the time to celebrate the wins – we just get on and do the job, so it’s fantastic to have this recognition for our whole team putting in the hard yards.” 

Receiving these awards is a testament to the commitment and dedication by KWHB’s Board, staff, and community members over the unpredictable and difficult years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The awards serve as recognition of everyone working together to improve the health and wellbeing of all people in the Katherine West region.  

“Thanks to our Board Directors, our community members and our staff for all their work, it’s hard and exhausting at times but we make a difference.”