By CASEY NEILL
SOUTH Eastern Private Hospital has changed with its community over the past 45 years.
The Noble Park hospital celebrated its evolution and the birthday milestone with an event for past and present staff on Tuesday 19 April.
Liz Turner was the nursing director from 2001 to 2006 and was thrilled to return.
“It’s a lovely community hospital,” she said.
“It was lovely to come back to the hospital and see how beautiful it looked. I caught up with many people I hadn’t seen since I left.
“It was a lovely thing for the organisation to put on.”
Ms Turner said she loved the people and “the spirit of the place”.
“The team work, people helped each other, they looked out for each other,” she said.
“There’s still a lot of people who’ve been there for many years.
“It has changed, but the hospital still looks beautiful and has a great atmosphere.”
CEO Andrew Blyth has looked after the hospital for the past two years and has worked for parent company Healthe Care for almost 10 years.
He grew up in the nearby Mulgrave/Wheelers Hill area and his father-in-law is a current patient at the hospital.
“I do see our patients and the families of patients as part of our community, and we’re part of theirs,” he said.
“It was previously a maternity hospital back when this part of town was big for new families.
“As our community’s got older, we’ve progressed.
“Rehabilitation is a big part of what we’re doing, and palliative care and oncology.
“The other big change not just in our community but in Australia is the need and the openness to treat mental health.
“It’s a very important area.
“Come August we’ll be opening up 60 beds in a purpose-built mental health facility attached to the hospital.”
Mr Blyth said this would include day psychology space, group rooms and art therapy.
“Within the Monash Health catchment there’s about 440 mental health public beds but very little private beds,” he said.
“We’re meeting that demand by building those 60 beds.”
He said the hospital was a big employer in the region and tried to recruit locally as much as possible.
It has 250 employees, from nurses and doctors to cleaners and cooks.
“That will grow to about 350 staff once the mental health facility has opened,” Mr Blyth said.
“We’ve got a lot of staff who’ve been here for 15, 20 and some of them 30-plus years.
“It’s a very family-oriented workforce. It’s a really nice place to work.
“We’re a small community-based hospital.
“That’s, in reality, how I want to keep it.”
