Health & Wellbeing

There will be a new mindfulness garden in Victoria Park, Goulburn, after successful lobbying for the project by the Goulburn Mulwaree Youth Council and Goulburn Mulwaree Council Mayor Bob Kirk. Council allocated $55,000 for the project and the NSW Government made a one-off grant of $15,000 after Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman and NSW Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth...

UPDATED JULY 9, 10 am: Following further testing, two suspected cases of COVID-19 in Albury, reported on Monday, have been confirmed as positive. The total number of positive cases recorded in Murrumbidgee Local Health District is now 47 over the duration of the pandemic. Nurse reinforcements have been sent to Albury by Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) to help relieve the workload...

Have you been slacking on using hand sanitizer when entering a business or building? Rural doctors are warning that the spreading patterns of the common cold are worrisome as they indicate that if a local COVID-19 hotspot develops, it could spread quickly. While in the peak of social distancing and handwashing practises to prevent the spread of COVID-19, an unintended...

An extra $50 million has been pledged by the NSW Government for the new Eurobodalla Hospital in Moruya. NSW Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard said extensive community consultation has resulted in a Clinical Services Plan for the new first-class regional hospital. “A site is being selected for the new hospital in consultation with stakeholders and will consider...

NSW Police says it has uncovered 526 breaches of apprehended violence orders in two months across the NSW Southern Region, after conducting compliance checks during Operation Making Families Safer 2020. The operation began on Wednesday, 1 April 2020, as part of NSW Police's continuing commitment to tackling domestic and family violence in the Southern Region, an area encompassing the NSW...

This pandemic has seen individuals and organisations reorganise day-to-day activities in a different way. Some have risen to the challenge – think cafes that have turned into takeaway venues overnight – while others have taken the opportunity to resort to the bad old days. While the pandemic has thrown a curveball at aged care providers, some have not risen to...

NSW Police has joined with Lifeline Australia in an awareness campaign for suicide prevention. Twelve highway patrol vehicles branded with highly visible stickers will promote Lifeline’s "13 HELP" (13 43 57) phone number, which is dedicated to people in bushfire-affected communities. NSW Police and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said many citizens have been thrown several curveballs in the past...

Bega Valley Shire Council has launched the Bega Valley Recovery Needs Survey to monitor bushfire recovery progress and plan for the community's future. The council has partnered with Service NSW and Resilience NSW to develop a short survey to be delivered to everyone who has registered with the Bega Valley Recovery Support Service, and it can be completed online, over...

A panel of experts is set to deliver an online question-and-answer session for Eurobodalla Shire's drivers aged 65 and above so they can learn more about licences, road rules and how to drive safely. Drivers are invited to attend the online forum on Wednesday 3 June from 10 am to ask questions of representatives from the NSW Centre for Road...

Mission Australia saluted grandparents who are raising grandchildren during National Families Week from 15-21 May 2020, and acknowledged they have a unique set of circumstances to deal with in the aftermath of the bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions. The charity organisation has been dropping off care packs outside the family homes of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren participants, including 84-year-old Fred Baxter from Sussex...

Life is starting to swing back towards normal following our COVID-19 isolation. Some of these changes I'm thrilled to meet again, such as watching my daughter happily slurp on her first hot chocolate in a cafe for a while, cosy fireside dinners with friends, and seeing how productive I am at work when both kids are out of the house. As...

When Marilyn Wales walked into Temora District Hospital in 1970 she was as wide-eyed and fresh-faced as any aspiring nurse could be. She was just 16 years old – too young for formal training. But she would start on the wards as a cadet nurse. The investment in her training has paid off. Not only did Marilyn put in 25 good...

Efforts to stay one step ahead of COVID-19 has seen the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) hit the road with a mobile van visiting towns in the region to test residents for the virus. With 243,228 residents spread across 125,242 square kilometres, there is a lot of territory to cover, but after two weeks of the initiative, it has proven a...

If you live in the Snowy Valleys local government area, you would be forgiven if you felt a bit wide-eyed and bushy tailed. It’s been quite a year there. But help is on the horizon. A program that’s had success in assisting people to get physically and mentally back on track in the fire-affected NSW southeast – and has the...

Australia has flattened the COVID-19 curve and managed to get transmission of the virus under control, but as winter approaches, Australians are being warned about a second outbreak that could be more deadly and spread more rapidly than the first. Although the second wave of the Spanish flu – a common comparison point for COVID-19 – was much deadlier than the...

Did you know that from 1 May 2020, it's mandatory for all aged care workers and visitors to an aged care facility in Australia to have received the flu vaccine? Along with continuing to respond to the spread of COVID-19, the Federal Government's response to the flu this year has been early and hefty, with $80 million invested in providing...