Calvary Mater Newcastle

This month, as part of our celebration of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we meet Ellie Gabrysiak Registered Nurse, Alcohol and Drug Clinical Services. What led you toward nursing as a career? I have always had some fascination with the medical industry. I went straight from high

Calvary Mater Newcastle has opened a new research office to further support our growing team of existing and emerging researchers. Melissa Gavenlock (pictured left) has joined the team as the new Research Governance Officer, and Kirsty Sanderson is continuing in her research support role. The new office is one of

This month, as part of our celebration of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we meet Milly Sneesby, Nurse Practitioner, Palliative Care. What is a nurse practitioner? A nurse practitioner is an experienced registered nurse who provides an advanced level of healthcare in a clinical role. The role

“It won’t help me but it might help someone else.” That’s the view of brain cancer patient Casey Miller who has made the courageous decision to donate her brain to the Hunter Brain Cancer Biobank for medical research. The Brain Cancer Biobank, which is supported by the Mark Hughes Foundation,

Painting has proved more than Les Ahoy’s gift. It has been one of the best medicines in his battle against prostate cancer, a healing and an escape from the rigours of recent chemotherapy. It has also helped bring reconciliation, for himself and for a broader community. The end result is

This month, as part of Calvary Mater Newcastle’s celebration of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we meet Louise Walpole, Clinical Nurse Specialist. What is your position and what area do you work in? I am a clinical nurse specialist in the Emergency Department (ED). I have worked

As part of Calvary Mater Newcastle’s celebration of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we meet Carolyn Barwik, New Grad, Perioperative Services. What does it mean to be a new grad? Being a new grad is somewhat equal parts exciting and nerve wracking. After three long years studying,

As part of Calvary Mater Newcastle’s celebration of the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we play Hard Quiz with Sandra McKendry, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Surgery, Melanoma Unit. What does it mean to be a Clinical Nurse Consultant? A Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) is an advanced practice registered nurse

During a hectic weekend in late March, the Radiation Oncology department took possession of their new multi-million dollar Varian TrueBeam Edge linear accelerator. The TrueBeam Edge is a replacement for the old C-series accelerator in the Zeus bunker. Michael Barnes, Department of Radiation Oncology Senior Medical Physics Specialist, said, “The

Calvary Mater Newcastle has started a three-month trial of a new model to upskill our senior medical students and give them the ongoing training, support and experience they need to contribute to care during this pandemic period and meet their requirements for graduation. The Embedded Senior Medical Student pilot program

Information for patients, aged care residents and visitors.

‘Game On Mole’ is a call to action for everyone to be aware of changes to their skin, especially moles. As part of the Melanoma Foundation campaign, the team in Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Melanoma Unit are dedicated to educating everyone on the importance of sun protection and early detection. Cheryl

Coronary Care staff and the wider Calvary Mater Newcastle family have mourned the death of trailblazing heart specialist Angela Worthington. Hundreds of family members, friends, colleagues and patients gathered at her funeral service earlier this month to celebrate an extraordinary woman whose life was cut tragically short by Motor Neurone

At a February Whole of Hospital Grand Rounds the Calvary Mater Newcastle Excellence in Clinical Teaching Awards winner was announced, with congratulations going to Dr Susan Miles, Staff Specialist Department of General Medicine, taking out the accolade. Associate Professor Tim Walker, Clinical Dean, Calvary Mater Newcastle, said, “Susan is a

Patients visiting Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Day Treatment Centre for chemotherapy are now able to receive their treatment in relative comfort thanks to the generosity of our Auxiliary. Six new chemotherapy chairs, complete with multimedia outlets, were purchased for the Day Treatment Centre from funding received by the Wests Group as

2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Each month Calvary Mater Newcastle will be celebrating and acknowledging the wonderful work they do day in, day out. This month we celebrate Kyra Antcliff, Registered Nurse. Here is a snapshot of why Kyra chose nursing as her profession and

Conjoint Professor Jim Denham might have ‘retired’ as a Senior Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology at Calvary Mater Newcastle but he is a long way from retiring from his passionate interest in prostate cancer research and its potential to provide help and hope for those affected. Much of his time

The CANcierge App provides easily accessible, relevant and reliable information. Designed by patients, carers and the cancer care team with the support of the Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary, CANcierge is available free from Apple and Android stores.

Calvary Mater Newcastle staff and volunteers got their boot scoots on to take up an end-of-year Git Up dance challenge – a chance, for some at least, to let their hair down after a busy year and a fun way to see in the holiday season.

Calvary is proud to celebrate National Perioperative Nurses Week this week 6-12 October, in recognition of the valuable role our perioperative nurses play in delivering quality care. Perioperative nurses care for patients before, during and after surgery or interventional procedure and perform a range of specialised roles including, but not

Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary again provide significant donation Members of the Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary ‘Cancer Carers’ once again proved their ongoing commitment and loyalty to fundraising for Calvary Mater Newcastle by presenting a cheque to the hospital totaling $326,276.13 at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 1 August. With

On 19 June the ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (‘VAD’) comes into effect in Victoria. Since the Act’s passing in 2017, Catholic Health and Aged Care services in Victoria have been working together to ensure that we have a clear and consistent response to the Act. Our services are committed

The award, launched by the Hon. Greg Hunt Minister for Health in conjunction with the Australian College of Nursing, is bestowed upon a nurse who has demonstrated leadership to bring new thinking to a wide range of health care challenges. Nikki, a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner based at Calvary’s Clare

A new report commissioned by Catholic Health Australia (CHA) calls for the provision of more home-based palliative care services to relieve pressure on hospitals and save valuable health system dollars. CHA, the peak body for Catholic health and aged care service providers in Australia, launched the report today at Calvary

Local charity Hope4Cure Foundation and public hospital Calvary Mater Newcastle have joined forces to support women and their families experiencing ovarian and gynaecological cancer in the Hunter region. Following a $40,000 donation from Hope4Cure Foundation, Calvary Mater Newcastle launched a special research grant for its researchers to help bolster research

This World Cancer Day, 4 February 2019, Calvary Mater Newcastle unveils new cancer App, CANcierge.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women of the Newcastle and Hunter region now have an Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer to support them when visiting public hospital Calvary Mater Newcastle. Margaret Whitson, a Kamilaroi woman whose family originally comes from Moree Western New South Wales, has been appointed as

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Calvary Mater Newcastle has just completed the installation of a dedicated clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for radiotherapy treatment planning, referred to as an MRI-simulator. With the future firmly in-mind, Calvary Mater Newcastle has taken the lead in replacing one of its two

Members of the Hunter and Newcastle community are invited to attend a Calvary Mater Newcastle Research Information Session being held at the hospital on Friday 2 November, aiming to bring further awareness regarding the types of research carried out at the Mater. This FREE community event open to all will

Greg Flint, Chief Executive Officer at Calvary Mater Newcastle, will retire from his position at the end of August 2018. Greg has had a distinguished career in the health care industry spanning approximately 46 years, of which seven of those have been at Calvary Mater Newcastle.  Greg Flint, said, “Deciding

As part of celebrations for Glad Dent’s 100th birthday, the dedicated Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary ‘Cancer Carers’ member was surrounded by Auxiliary friends at a morning tea held at the hospital. The Elermore Vale resident born 14 August 1918, is a proud mother of five, grandmother to 11 and great-grandmother

Medical physics research set to benefit from collaboration The University of Newcastle and Calvary Mater Newcastle welcomed nine delegates from the prestigious Princess Chulabhorn Royal Academy, Thailand, in celebration of a medical physics research memorandum of understanding (MOU) being signed by the Princess Chulabhorn Royal Academy and the University of

Members of the Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary ‘Cancer Carers’ once again proved their ongoing commitment and loyalty to fundraising for Calvary Mater Newcastle by presenting a cheque to the hospital totaling $327,162.43 at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 2 August. With 26 members ranging in age from 57 to

Implementing and testing new methods of supporting people with dementia.

The men of the Newcastle and Hunter region now have two Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses to support them on their cancer journey. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA), Tracy Scott and Nancy Consoli have been awarded two-year positions as the regions Prostate Cancer Nurse

Twenty-four people from the Hunter, Newcastle and Port Stephens area have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday 2018 Honours List including Cathy Tate, Chairperson of the Calvary Mater Newcastle Community Advisory Council. Cathy has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the community of

Thanks to 2017 Dry July funding, the Occupational Therapy Department at Calvary Mater Newcastle was able to purchase a large range of assistive aids for the hospital’s Oncology Equipment Loan Pool. The Oncology Equipment Loan Pool is a comprehensive service that is provided free of charge to any Calvary Mater

Breast cancer patients will soon receive more precise and potentially life-saving radiation therapy thanks to a unique program being developed at Calvary Mater Newcastle. Associate Professor Joerg Lehmann, Principal Medical Physics Specialist at Calvary Mater Newcastle and Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle, received a $405,000 prestigious National

Calvary Mater Newcastle staff came to work today in their pyjamas as part of the launch of the hospital’s #endPJparalysis campaign that encourages patients who are medically able to ‘get up, get dressed and get moving’ while in hospital. Staff have swapped their uniforms and work clothes for pyjamas to

The Department of Radiation Oncology/Medical Physics at Calvary Mater Newcastle has developed a machine learning approach for the identification of prostate cancer from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This newly developed artificial intelligence system is able to identify more than 100 features within the MRI images that can differentiate cancer from

An underlying mechanism linking obesity with the development of endometrial/uterine cancer has for the first time been demonstrated. Current statistics show that 57% of women who develop uterine cancer are obese, yet it hasn’t been clear how or why fat cells drive this particular cancer more than other tumour types.

Calvary Mater Newcastle received worldwide recognition for its Very Important Patients (VIP) Program at the 41st International Hospital Federation Congress in Taipei on 8 November 2017. With 131 entries, from 90 organisations in 24 countries competing for the awards, being selected as one of the finalists is a recognition that

When you think about how physically weak patients may get, and how they may struggle to keep warm, then you would appreciate how satisfying it would be for a patient to have the comfort of a warm blanket or towel during their stay in hospital. Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Hospice recently

As the focus of Multicultural Health Week 2017 was ‘Women’s Health’ here at Calvary Mater Newcastle we decided to celebrate with women from our local culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Members of our CALD Working Party (Cultural Safety Audit) were very excited by the prospect as they themselves represent a

With a sense of unease and discomfort, Calvary noted several media articles over the weekend of 19 and 20 August 2017 which claim that the “Catholic church” is threatening to fire teachers, nurses and other employees who marry their same-sex partner if gay marriage is legalised. We reassure staff and

From humble beginnings to becoming the major fundraising arm of Calvary Mater Newcastle, the Mater Auxiliary has much to celebrate this August as it reaches its ninetieth year of operation. On 24 August 1927 the Mater Ladies’ Auxiliary was formed with Mrs J.W. Greaves taking up the helm as President.

Calvary Mater Newcastle staff and guests from the local community joined together to congratulate members of Calvary Mater Newcastle Auxiliary ‘Cancer Carers’ as they presented a $315,229.56 cheque to Calvary Mater Newcastle at their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 3 August. After fundraising tirelessly throughout the year, this extraordinary group

One of Australia’s first Centres for Innovation in Regional Health A healthcare partnership that aligns clinicians and researchers across the Hunter New England, Central Coast and Mid-North Coast districts of NSW has been accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) as one of Australia’s first Centres for

Newcastle and Hunter residents can raise funds for Calvary Dry July is the fundraiser that challenges you to go booze-free for a month to support people affected by cancer. For many years, Calvary Mater Newcastle has been a beneficiary of Dry July with funds raised by kind members of the

Calvary Mater Newcastle is celebrating a game-changer for prostate cancer patients receiving radiation therapy. Led by Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Professor Peter Greer, Principal Physicist, a study, which is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia and New Zealand, is creating treatment plans for patients with prostate cancer