Health & Wellbeing

Frontline health workers on the NSW South Coast began receiving the first COVID-19 vaccinations at South East Regional Hospital in Bega on Tuesday, 2 March. Staff from Liverpool Hospital have travelled to the South Coast to manage the outreach clinic for health workers located between Batemans Bay and Bega. Southern NSW Local Health District chief executive Margaret Bennett said it...

Member for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain says she is "shocked and concerned" to hear that frontline workers in her electorate will have to endure a seven-hour round trip to reach the nearest COVID-19 vaccine centre in Canberra. She has written a letter to Health Minister Greg Hunt urging him to include the hospitals in Bega, Moruya and Tumut in phase one...

A Moruya doctor has told a NSW Legislative Council inquiry into regional health that patients on the South Coast face long wait times or have to travel outside of the region for mental health, paediatric and orthopaedic services. Dr Michael Holland’s submission, written on behalf of community group One New Eurobodalla Hospital, is among 400 from health professionals, advocacy groups, lawyers,...

Residents in southern NSW are advised to take extra steps to protect themselves from mosquito bites following a suspected outbreak of Ross River Fever and the Barmah Forest Virus locally. The Southern NSW Local Health District says an increased number of suspected cases of both mosquito-borne diseases have been reported to the public health unit and are currently under investigation....

Hayley Snape was aged 31, happily married and had three healthy children when she decided to give another couple a chance at starting their own family. The Crookwell mother knew she wouldn’t be needing her eggs anymore and that they could be the missing ingredient to someone’s dream coming true. “Sometimes I use a cake analogy when explaining it: they...

Calls are being made at both a community and national level for greater action on aged care in southeast NSW, including Jindabyne, to allow the region's older residents to remain in their hometowns for as long as possible. "Aged care is one of those fundamental services that a community needs for it to take care of its most vulnerable ,"...

The Cooma Swim Centre is set to receive a defibrillator after a push from the community prompted a joint funding agreement between the NSW Government and Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The NSW Government and council will each contribute $1000 to cover the cost of the new defibrillator. Every year, more than 30,000 Australians have a cardiac arrest. A defibrillator analyses...

A University of Newcastle nursing student will have the chance to experience a two-week placement in Yass this summer after he was awarded a NSW Rural Doctors Network Bush Bursary scholarship. Peter Matthews has long desired to be a nurse, however life took him in a different direction before he landed in his chosen career. Growing up in regional Victoria, Peter first completed...

Carers of family members whose lives depend on non-acute mental health services in southern NSW have expressed concern about the announcement of a review of those services by the local health district. The Southern NSW Local Health District (SNSWLHD) says the review "will consider and make recommendations for the enhancement of non-acute mental health services" in the area. However, Helen Delany...

Bega Valley Shire Library has scheduled three writing workshops for people affected by the Black Summer bushfires in Bega, Bemboka and Eden in January and February. The 'Where There's Smoke' writing workshops will be led by local author and therapeutic arts practitioner Katherine Boland. The COVID-Safe workshops are an opportunity for people to share their stories in a supportive environment....

This summer, you will have the opportunity to groove along the NSW South Coast, shake off some of those isolation kilos and lift your spirits. From Corrigans Beach to Narooma, Just Dance Eurobodalla is presenting Groove is in the Park, a series of five outdoor community dance events across the Eurobodalla Shire. The events will be held in five locations...

Dynamic and mysterious, the Shoalhaven River meanders in chocolate froth after rain. Then the water settles into a silver ribbon that is so clear the swaying current reveals fish darting off into its depths. Rolling hills on either side give way to thick scrub, stone-strewn foreshores and sandstone gorges. The water’s depth increases as the drama heightens. Sheer cliffs on...

On 10 June, I got the call every partner dreads. “I’ve been in an accident,” said Will. Then the call cut out. Mobile signal is patchy at the best of times on our remote property at Bigga, NSW, about two hours north of Canberra. Will, a farmer, wasn’t calling from the back of an ambulance or hospital, he was calling from...

The Southern NSW Local Health District has gone five weeks without recording a locally acquired COVID-19 case. The area is home to about 200,000 residents and includes Batemans Bay, Bega, Bombala, Braidwood, Cooma, Crookwell, Delegate, Goulburn, Moruya, Pambula, Queanbeyan and Yass. The last locally acquired case was on 19 October in Goulburn. READ ALSO: Batemans Bay Hospital nurse a finalist...

Nurse Lisa Wilson from Batemans Bay Hospital has been named the winner of the Judith Meppem Leadership Award in the NSW Health Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards. The award highlights an outstanding nursing and midwifery leader who continually exhibits excellence in leadership, focusing on values of teamwork, innovation, service, quality, compassion and integrity. Lisa was one of four finalists for the...

Clinical psychologist Stacy Shepherd has been working with bushfire victims since the 2019-2020 Black Summer, which burnt 79 per cent of her region. Her psychology practice, based in Broulee on the NSW South Coast, still has clients who are living in temporary housing, caravans or couch surfing. Stacy says Eurobodalla residents and many Australians who lived through the Black Summer...