Our recent STAR Award winner for Improving Care and Access is Kellie Hammerstein.
The Improving Care and Access award is for an individual, group or team that develops improved ways for patients to access and manage their care. This may include:
- Developing partnerships with our community to enhance patient independence and wellbeing
- Supporting prevention and early intervention
- Developing new ways to help patients or colleagues feel safe, included, and experience improved equity of care
Kellie Hammerstein is the Disability Initiative Lead for Monash Health Community and was nominated by Community Operations Support. The team have said Kellie is caring, passionate and strives for excellence in all of the work she contributes to.
More recently, Kellie has been instrumental in developing our new Disability Strategy and Action Plan 2023 – 2027 (DSAP). This Strategy, which launches tomorrow supports our vision of inclusive, accessible, and respectful healthcare and employment for everyone, and the four pillars of our plan will guide our actions to realise this vision.
Extensive consultation with people with a disability was integral to the development of the DSAP and and our commitment to their input embodies our guiding motto “nothing about us, without us”. Kellie created an exceptional experience and environment for our patients, consumers, visitors, families, volunteers, and employees by ensuring inclusivity at all stages of this process. Led by Kellie, the consultations included:
- 330 people with disability and/or their supporters offering feedback
- 227 online survey responses
- 5 focus groups with local health and disability networks
- 4 employee focus groups
- 1 workshop with people with an intellectual disability
- 5 interviews, and
- 5 internal stakeholder focus groups with intersectional communities who often experience additional barriers to access – Refugee Health, Aboriginal Health Service, Gender Clinic, Mental Health, Lived Experience Advisory Forum and LGBTIQA+
During this process, Kellie established our Disability Consumer Advisory Group to work alongside our Equity and Inclusion Disability Subcommittee. The advisory group members are people living with a disability, or a carer of someone with a disability. Thanks to Kellie’s support of the advisory group, the voices of consumers, carers, and the community significantly informed the DSAP.
Monash Health has also invested in the Australian Network on Disability Access and Inclusion Index, thanks to Kellie’s recommendation. This tool has allowed us to better understand our organisational confidence and help our organisation actualise the Inclusive Victoria: State disability plan 2022-2026.
Kellie’s ability to engage consumer stakeholders through to Board of Directors and executives of the organisation was important in positioning disability inclusion at the core of our business. With Sue Viney, Co-Chair of the Disability Consumer Advisory Committee, Kellie spoke with the Chief Executive about this important work at the 2022 Annual General Meeting and Open Board Meeting.
A well-regarded leader, Kellie continues to promote inclusive and respectful healthcare and breaks down barriers to access for people with a disability. In receiving her award, Kellie would like to thank the employees below who have championed the development of the DSAP with her:
- Julie-Anne Coyle
- Annette Davies (past employee)
- Reece Adams (past employee)
- Michelle Sliwinski
- Julia Oxley
Kellie is grateful for her STAR Award and invites all employees and volunteers to attend the launch of the DSAP tomorrow:
Congratulations to Kellie for winning this STAR Award!
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team, you can do so at any time by visiting the STAR Awards portal. For more information about the STAR Awards program, Monash Health Employee Recognition Program page.
Approved by Chris McLoughlin, Executive Director, People and Culture