Isn't technology wonderful? Hawthorns Rotary's last lunch time speaker was several thousand kilometers away in Broome.
CEO of Boab Health Services Margie Ware indulged us all by sitting on a phone exposed to some internet style hook up, coping with both limited telecom capacity and a couple of diligent but trainee techos in Kevin Rose .jpg)
and Noel Halford to tell us of the operations of that group in the Broome-Kununurra region.
The audience got a taste of just how communication technology has evolved and what's to come. That's the scene below.
Margie is a Victorian who hankered for both that outdoor life and a chance to help remote Australian communities in dealing with their health issues. Seven years ago she spent time in North Queensland and perhaps finding that insufficiently remote moved to the Kimberleys. She joined Boab Health and is situated at the first of its two centres Broome, the other is in Kununurra.
Boab Health Services is a not-for-profit accredited primary health care organisation servicing communities across the Kimberley region. Services provided include allied health, mental health, and a ‘Closing the Gap’ team.
The Allied Health team consists of podiatrists, diabetes educators, dietitians and a pediatric nutritionist whilst the mental health team has members from a variety of disciplines including mental health nurses, psychologists, clinical psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. The ‘Closing the Gap’ team provide care coordination and service access to Aboriginal people with chronic health conditions in the Kimberley.
Margie noted that the above-mentioned health issues on which they focus are heavily interconnected with the social issues of the communities. Each time on seeing the conditions under which many in that region lived was a challenge to the Boab people and always mostly overwhelming particularly to the newer ones. Staff numbers have increased from 4 in 1998 to 47 now, and key relationships with 34 remote communities established with long term connections with their leaders cemented. With that more effective interventions and treatments have developed.
In retrospect it was a always a highlight for Margie and colleagues to observe how their efforts have made a difference to one let alone many.
The clinical and program staff are supported by a corporate team including finance, payroll, HR and health administration. The organisation is a proprietary limited company governed by a board of directors. Boab Health programs are funded by the WA Primary Health Alliance and the Commonwealth Government.