What sets Mater apart?

There are many things I think that set the Mater apart from the rest, most of them I think originate from the founderess and the founders the Sisters of Mercy. We do everything we reasonably can to deliver comprehensive and holistic care, to not just do the mechanics of health care and to deliver technologically excellent health care, but to care for the whole person and their family and their social environment.

Tell us about 2007

Our redevelopment team continue producing the Mater Mothers’ Public and Private Hospitals, and we’ve been doing a lot of work with the State Government and Queensland Health in the delivery of the Queensland Children’s Hospital which will bring together all of the tertiary paediatric services in Queensland. That’s a really exciting, very long term, five to six year project that in which the Mater will be a very active partner. We had other developments in the Private Hospital where we opened a Coronary Care/CardioVascular Unit in the Private Hospital and that was in addition to the Mater staff continuing to deliver services to about 530,000 people in Queensland during that same year. So it was a big and busy year for everybody.

Tell us about Mater’s green initiatives

Environmental awareness is certainly a key, not just from our responsibility as a large corporation in Queensland, but also as a large employer. The younger generation are keen to work with companies and enterprises that actually recognise their social responsibilities and so we’ve put in place a water management plan to try and reduce our water consumption, to improve our recycling. We’re also looking at electrical energy conservation as well.

What are you looking forward to in 2008?

The Mater Mothers’ Hospital will open midyear and at the same time, Mater Mothers’ Private Hospitals will open as well. I think people can expect an expanded service, the best of facilities—public and private, really well designed units so they will be good places both to be a patient, and also for the staff to work in. Well designed light, fresh, and as part of the preparatory work for the Queensland Children’s Hospital, the paediatric cardiac services from The Prince Charles Hospital will be moving into the Mater Children’s sometime in midyear as well. We look forward to welcoming the staff from The Prince Charles and integrating their service into a tertiary paediatric environment. Hopefully in 2008, before the end of the year, we’ll start to see the first physical works to bring the Queensland Children’s Hospital to fruition.