(Photo: DDHHS)
February 15, 2017
Dr Robyn Cooke has taken over as Medical Superintendent at Cherbourg and Murgon hospitals.
Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service CEO Dr Peter Gillies said Dr Cooke’s credentials, especially in Indigenous health, were “outstanding”.
“She is skilled in general practice, intensive care and emergency medicine, and is also a Fellow of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine,” he said.
“Her enthusiasm and commitment to her patients and the community has been evident from day one, so we are very happy to welcome her to the DDHHS.”
Dr Cooke said she was drawn to the role because it provided the opportunity to practice medicine in a rural setting where there was a real sense of community.
“I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners, the Wakka Wakka, and elders of the Cherbourg Aboriginal community and surrounding communities,” Dr Cooke said.
“I appreciate how welcoming everyone is.
“I always wanted to be a rural doctor, and while studying medicine at Flinders University in Adelaide I applied for the rural stream, which I absolutely enjoyed, and through that I got to learn from some great old-time doctors in the Riverland region of South Australia.
“I love working in the country, and seeing the relationship those doctors had with their patients, the way they actually knew them, and stopped to talk to them in the street.
“I knew there and then that was the type of medicine I wanted to practice.
“It was great to see what they were able to achieve, with not much in the way of facilities or support, but with a great deal of clinical skill and clinical acumen, which they’d amassed over the years, so it was very different to practicing in the large tertiary centres.
“As a registrar I also worked in Indigenous health in South Australia, at the Aboriginal Health Service in Gawler, and that was a great privilege.”
Dr Cooke said one of her primary goals was to help in the establishment and maintenance of a medical team with real connections to the community.
“We’ve got nursing staff who have a vested interest in being part of the community, and I want to see our medical team have a similar level of stability,” she said.
“Anyone who’s worked in Indigenous health would know it’s all about investing in the community with your own time, and that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to doing, and encouraging in our medical staff.
“I think with a sense of stability we will be able to provide some great preventative medicine and some real engagement with the community, and see the community’s confidence in us grow as they get to know us, and vice versa.
“I’m relishing the opportunity to work closely with teams from Cherbourg and Murgon, as well as working with the local GP practice in Murgon, CRAICCHS, as well as building relationships with other organisations and people in the local area.”
