2022/2023 Annual Review
Being Calvary
Message from our CEO
Calvary Health Care has embraced a year of enormous change imposed by various external factors with outstanding resilience and unwavering commitment to continue our Mission of being for others and carrying on the legacy of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary.
While most Australians began to shake off the restrictions of COVID-19 in mid-2022, our nursing, clinical and allied health staff across hospitals, aged care, home care and virtual care, and those in support roles, continued to work in a pandemic-like environment, adopting and embedding new care models and innovating care delivery to meet the needs and desires of all communities we serve from birth to end of life, and everything in between.
Our private hospitals continued to play a critical role in relieving pressure off the public health system, adopting new technologies to improve health outcomes and reduce hospital lengths of stay. This included the introduction of robotic surgical techniques at Calvary Adelaide and Calvary Lenah Valley Hospitals, as well as specialised clinics for breast cancer services at Calvary North Adelaide Hospital and a chest pain clinic at Calvary Lenah Valley Hospital.
In late 2022, Calvary Health Care Kogarah opened the doors to its $1.79 million refurbished palliative care unit transforming the clinical environment into a family-like comfortable space for the hundreds of patients being treated and comforted during end-of-life care. To honour our history, a special Blue Plaque commemorating the lasting legacy and stewardship of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary in Wagga Wagga was officially unveiled at Calvary Riverina Hospital in December and the Calvary Mater Newcastle celebrated its centenary in March 2023.
Meanwhile our virtual care efforts continued to accelerate and our Calvary Medibank Joint Venture, which delivers SA Health’s My Home Hospital service, became one of the first standalone virtual hospitals delivering acute care to be nationally accredited to the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.
In a sign of new beginnings, we celebrated the first patients moving into the new Calvary Bethlehem Hospital as part of the $154 million Calvary Kooyong precinct. This also marked our first co-located integrated care model, accommodating specialised hospital care alongside residential aged care and independent living. Sadly, we also saw the end of a proud 44-year history delivering care at the Calvary Public Hospital Bruce and Clare Holland House following a difficult and disappointing decision made by the ACT Government. Throughout these ups and downs, our people continued to deliver quality care to the many communities across Australia that we have the privilege of serving every day.
Our people working across our 62 residential aged care homes and 17 retirement villages continued to implement reforms addressing the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Calvary took the opportunity to further enhance our commitment to delivering person-centred care with the introduction of mandatory care minutes, and we welcomed the introduction of Star Ratings to assess our performance against national measures. And for those older Australians who are increasingly seeking ways to age in place, our home care services remain an essential program of care and support.
Our consumer experience surveys reflect the efforts of our wonderful people; with an impressive 8.7 out of ten overall satisfaction score in aged care, a net promoter score of 87% across our hospitals, and 98% of home care consumers confirming they are treated with respect and dignity.
Our people are the heartbeat of our organisation and much goes without formal recognition. However, there are some special mentions, with Calvary Adelaide’s Liezel Fourie recognised by Catholic Health Australia as Nurse of the Year for 2022 and our National Mary Potter Awards, which recognise those who are exemplars of the Spirit of Calvary and who selflessly deliver our Mission, were presented to Calvary Bruce Private’s Godfrey Loremia, an assistant in nursing, and the Palliative Home Care Services team based at Calvary North Adelaide.
Like all in the health care sector globally, we are dealing with workforce challenges and Calvary continues to look for creative ways to attract and retain skilled people to our organisation. We recently began welcoming the group of international nurses and doctors recruited to our hospitals and aged care homes following the successful UK and Ireland recruitment drive which saw 126 new employment offers accepted, and we are continuing to induct home-grown graduate nurses. To further the support of our staff we signed Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Sydney and University of Canberra. These formal partnerships will strengthen our existing relationships to help shape our future workforce through clinical placements, education opportunities and staff development, and ongoing collaborations in research.
I thank all of our staff and volunteers for giving your best to our patients, residents and clients and look forward to supporting you to thrive and deliver innovative, high quality and safe care to those we serve. I also extend my gratitude to my National Executive Leadership Team, our Board and Trustees for their work and support to ensure Calvary continues to be the health care provider of choice.
Martin Bowles AO PSM
National Chief Executive Officer
Clinical governance and safety
Safety is our priority and we welcome the opportunity to assess our performance against national measures and benchmarking.
Consumer feedback
Calvary supports a culture of open and transparent partnership with consumers and the community and we welcome patient, resident and client feedback.
Hospitals
Calvary Hospitals provide acute and sub-acute care across ACT, NSW, VIC, SA and TAS.
Calvary Kooyong
In January 2023, Calvary Bethlehem Hospital opened its doors as part of the landmark integrated care precinct Calvary Kooyong, which is designed to support the changing health and lifestyle needs of patients and aged care residents.
The new hospital includes outpatient clinic areas, education and training spaces, a day centre, and a designated area for clinical trials.
Calvary Riverina
In December 2022, a Heritage NSW Blue Plaque commemorating the lasting legacy and stewardship of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary in Wagga Wagga was unveiled at Calvary Riverina, representing the values we uphold when caring for the Wagga Wagga community today and into the future.
Calvary Lenah Valley
Meeting the needs of the community, Calvary Lenah Valley’s Cardiac Centre opened a chest clinic in April 2023, providing quick assessments for GP-referred people, who might be at risk of a heart attack. Patients are usually seen within 48 hours and undergo a stress test or echo cardiogram.
Residential Aged Care
Calvary offers a range of aged care homes across ACT, NSW, VIC, SA, TAS and QLD to provide person-centred care in a supportive environment.
Music therapy at Flora McDonald, SA
Residents at Flora McDonaldʼs Memory Support Unit, enjoyed weekly music therapy as part of a ten-week trial run by a registered music therapist from Creative Therapy Adelaide. The program provided residents a chance to maintain motor and communication skills through instrument play and singing.
Intergenerational program at Haydon, ACT
A low-key program called Life Stories paired Haydon aged care residents with local teenage students to come together and learn something of each other’s lives. It was one of several intergenerational collaborations between Calvary Haydon and nearby Radford College aimed to promote greater understanding and respect between generations and contribute to building more cohesive communities.
Goal tree at Mt Carmel, NSW
Stan’s wish to go up in a Tiger Moth aircraft is one of a growing bucket list adorning a two-metre high ‘goal tree’ painted on a wall of one of the dining rooms at Calvary Mt Carmel in Maitland.
The goal tree is a way for residents to set and realise some goals and to bring some fun back into residents’ lives after the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Retirement Living
Calvary has increased its retirement living footprint, which respects the freedom to live independently, while often being co-located with an aged care home to make transition to full-time care easier, if required.
First residents of Hyson Apartments, VIC
With a wrap-around balcony offering breathtaking views and the wrap-around services on offer at Calvary Kooyong, the Weisler’s, who are young at heart, yet accept they are getting older, couldn’t be happier in Calvary’s retirement living.
For both, their new home has brought peace of mind with 24-hour call service in a like-minded community, along with a comfortable, stylish home right for them now, and well into their future.
Home Care
Calvary supports people in their own homes through a range of aged care, disability and support services to enable independence, improve social connections and promote positive health and wellbeing.
Home Care connecting people with physical and social supports
Calvary’s National Executive Advisor Home Care, Angie Robinson, addressed the 2023 Aged & Community Care Providers Association’s NSW/ACT State Conference to reinforce the importance of viewing home care as a health service, enabling people to remain at home for as long as they can.
Calvary has 30-plus-years’ experience supporting ageing in place.
Virtual care
Calvary has developed a virtual care centre concept allowing some acute conditions to be managed at home with a medical-led digital platform with monitoring.
Calvary Medibank Joint Venture accreditation
The CMJV became one of the first standalone virtual hospitals delivering acute care to achieve national accreditation against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards in 2023. The joint venture proudly delivers SA Health’s My Home Hospital program, which also expanded its service to the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula.
Our people
Calvary Ministries, Little Company of Mary Health Care Board
JIM BIRCH AM, CHAIR
Little Company of Mary Health Care Ltd
"When reflecting on the past year of governing the work of Calvary Health Care, I am struck by how our people have continued to deliver high quality care to those we serve in communities across Australia in hospitals, aged care, home care and virtually, while facing various external challenges that have forever altered how our organisation operates on a daily basis.
"The healthcare sector has been confronting an obvious headwind for the last three years with the COVID-19 pandemic directly impacting our day-to-day operations. However, that single global crisis has manifested into a series of challenges putting multiple pressures on the delivery of health services. In our short-term and long-term decision-making we are not alone in having to continuously consider and resolve workforce shortages, funding models, regulatory governance, cyber security, artificial intelligence applications, rising infrastructure costs, and the demands from an ageing population for complex and coordinated health services."
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HON MICHAEL LEE, CHAIR
Calvary Ministries Trustee Board
“The most important test of our authenticity and integrity, however, is the experience of the people we serve. If the mission is real, people will experience it. They will tell us whether our love has “unconsciously showed itself, it could not be kept in.”
- Venerable Mary Potter
"The past year has been one of hope and challenge for Calvary. However, when I think of the resilience and spirit of Calvary’s people I am reminded of the quiet courage and persistence of our Founder, the Venerable Mary Potter. In particular, her determination to forge ahead on new paths to achieve the mission of Being for others."
Volunteers are part of the fabric of Calvary
We are grateful to the wide range of volunteers who dedicate their time to enhance the care we offer our patients, residents, their carers and the community.
Fond farewell for tireless hospital Auxiliary volunteers
After an amazing 44 years, and having raised about $2.5 million towards equipment for care of Canberra district patients, the Calvary Public Hospital Bruce Auxiliary wound up.
Vice-regal reception for Calvary volunteers in Tasmania
Dedicated volunteers at Calvary Lenah Valley and St John’s Hospitals celebrated 21 years of volunteering with a vice-regal reception hosted by Governor of Tasmania, Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC.
Celebrating our past
Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Heritage Committee helped develop the centenary celebrations with a corridor display of the hospital’s history.
Finance
Calvary has developed models of care specifically designed to meet customer expectations, while reducing cost, complexity and risk. This includes the continued development of home and community-based services to better manage chronic disease, palliative and end-of-life care.
Our Directors believe we should strive to achieve the best commercial results to sustain our operations, fund better integration, grow, and innovate in pursuit of our strategic aims. Demonstrating wise stewardship and contributing to social stability in the communities Calvary serve requires a strong financial base.
Calvary achieves this through strict cost management and the pursuit of improved revenue rates. Calvary continues to invest in its ability to be a source of healing, and in facilities enabling Calvary to provide a wider range of services to local communities.
Revenue from our operating activities totalled $1,837.6m. The entitlement to recover eligible expenditure related to COVID-19 under government grant programs is calculated at a total of $34.8m, and remains unreceived at 30 June 2023.
Meanwhile, the Company’s Board endorsed the Calvary National Growth Strategy – Towards 2025. The Strategy articulates the next phase of change and growth for Calvary; outlines the Calvary Care System as the primary goal for growth and proposes a range of strategic priorities to enact.