COHUNA’S new hospital chief executive, Bernadette Loughnane, has an impressive healthcare resume, from various executive roles to her beginnings as a registered nurse and midwife.
But it’s her Irish working class roots that have stood her in good stead for her latest role, which she has taken by the horns.
Born to a large family in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, Ms Loughnane remembers being involved in her family’s meat business, from a very young age.
“I grew up in a small town in a family business and that’s how I learnt those skills – how important it is to relate to our local community,” Ms Loughnane said.
“Some of the things I learned were work ethic, relationships, humility, resilience, and importantly, work-life balance.”
Ms Loughnane said she was extremely fortunate to have unconditional support from her family, in her career development.
“I’m the youngest of a large family – with six siblings – they’re all in Ireland, but we’re very close,” she said.
For the past 10 years, Ms Loughnane has been a general manager and executive director in hospitals in Queensland and NSW, and prior to that, in Sydney tertiary universities for just on 20 years.
She has relocated to live in Cohuna from Kings Cliff, northern NSW.
“I was the executive lead on the development on the new Byron Central Hospital in northern NSW, and the executive lead on the planning of the new Tweed Valley Hospital in Kingscliff, NSW,” Ms Loughnane said.
“I am a fellow of the Australian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), and a surveyor of the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS).”
When asked about challenges for Cohuna District Hospital (CDH), Ms Loughnane said she prefered to look at them as opportunities.
“The big opportunity at the moment is the upgrade of our operating theatre, which has started and will continue for the rest of the year,” Ms Loughnane said.
The state government has allocated $2.74m towards the project and the CDH board have contributed a further $600k, with capital works commencing in the second half of 2021.
“The second big opportunity is redesigning our maternity service to meet the needs of our local community, within our workforce capability,” Ms Loughnane said.
Maternity care has long been a hot topic for regional towns, and Ms Loughnane is keen to address the needs of local women and their babies.
“I’m hoping that we lead a piece of work to redesign our model of care,” she said.
“Ensuring the safest care in the best place, and that our midwives are skilled appropriately to meet the needs of our mothers and newborns.
“It’s an ongoing discussion, with many stakeholders.
“We are in collaboration with other hospitals and they’re sharing their lessons learned, it’s a discussion we’ve embraced positively.
“I’m confident we’ll achieve a model to meet the needs of our local women, and also satisfy the professional needs of our midwifery workforce, now and into the future.”
The new CEO’s philosophy on healthcare was simple.
“I see our role as healthcare leaders as adding value and making a difference to our patients, and also ensuring the wellbeing of our workforce,” Ms Loughnane said.
“That the healthcare needs of our community are met, preferably locally, and if not locally, that we enable access to care at the most appropriate hospital.
“Cohuna hospital is an icon in the community – it’s got a really good feel and there’s a great relationship with the community
“I’ve taken over from some really great people and I’m determined to build on that.
“We’ve got a great skills-based board and our future looks bright.
“I think the CEO role is beyond the boundary of the hospital – it’s a role within Cohuna and the community and I think that’s important.”
