General News
26 August, 2024
Theatre manager celebrates half century
When an organisation has an existence spanning 150 years, it's not often an employee can claim they have been with it for a third of the time.
But this is exactly what Wimmera Base Hospital's operating suite manager Jenny Thomson can say, this month celebrating 50 years of employment with the group.
Mrs Thomson was originally going to go nursing in Wangaratta, where she lived at the time, but made the most of a chance opportunity.
"I'm hospital trained - I went through the system where you put your name down to see if you got a place," she said.
"I worked at a chemist, living in Wangaratta, and then my family shifted to the Wimmera.
"The chemist was on the board and he said he would see if I could go nursing at the (Wimmera) hospital.
"I got a call from the matron and I could start in the August group, which I did."
Now the manager of the unit in the operating suite, Mrs Thomson said she had been in theatre for all of her career bar the initial hospital training.
"I had to come here to relieve and I didn't like theatre as a student," she said.
However, Mrs Thomson later discovered the operating suite wasn't a bad place after all and admitted to not wanting to leave after that.
She credits her staff for making her role so enjoyable now, many of who have been at the hospital for long periods, just like her.
Mrs Thomson said she also enjoyed the fact she didn't have to do "call" anymore.
"The days of me getting dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, I was getting a bit past all that," she said.
Cases look different now to how they used to, with Mrs Thomson saying a lot of the more serious and severe patients bypassed the local hospital.
"Back when we were doing a lot more surgery, we were doing all the road trauma, but now they air-lift them, fly helicopters to crashes," she said.
"We used to get them when they would fall off Mt Arapiles and put all the bones back together.
"We had bad car accidents, a lot of (them from) drinking, I can remember theatre smelling of alcohol."
Mrs Thomson said an enjoyable part of her job was being able to see patients through the process.
"They come in through the day procedure, we fix them up and then we discharge them out," she said.
"Seeing them right through, following them up, calling the next day, we get compliments and the patients are grateful - their lumps have been removed or we have fixed their knee.
"We also work so closely with the anaesthetists and doctors we get that rapport with them.
"It's like any job: if things are going well, 99 per cent of the time, we'll be chatting about what we are having for dinner or where we are going on holidays, but then you switch off if something dire happens and we all hop in and help."
Although she said it would be a big call, Mrs Thomson said retirement could come as early as next year as she opted to have more family time and maybe take up golf.
"I never not want to come to work," Mrs Thomson said.
"I have bad days but it's all part of it and you get over it, but most of the time I enjoy being here."
Acting site manager at the Horsham campus Katie Walsgott described Mrs Thomson's achievement as outstanding.
“It’s also an extremely genuine commitment to health care in Horsham from Jenny," Ms Walsgott said.
Pictures and stories are being sought from the community and staff from across the hospital's 150 years.
They can be emailed to Horsham150@gh.org.au.