Mackellar Care Services is celebrating a big win.
The not-for-profit organisation took out the Prime Super Employer Excellence in Aged Care Award at the Regional Achievement and Community Awards on Friday night.
The award was one of nine announced at the gala dinner in Orange, which saw 250 people come from around NSW and ACT.
Mackellar Care chief executive officer Sandra Strong said she was “very excited” about the award.
“I’m very humbled,” she said.
“For me, it’s such a real team effort.”
Mackellar Care was one of three finalists in its category and Mrs Strong said the award announcer outlined a number of reasons as to why it was chosen.
“Looking at the support that’s given to us by the community, the scope of our organisation and our commitment to clinical excellence, and the implementation of some of the innovative solutions to benefit both residents and staff members,” Mrs Strong said.
“We have an extensive training program and 12 months ago we started a new graduate program for registered nurses and that was done because of the difficulty in recruiting rural nurses in rural areas.
“We have actually recruited six nurses into our rural nurses program and we give a broad-brush education program in looking at acute and chronic illness and we also implemented in that a period of mentored management.
“We also have staff members in other areas we have supported in their training programs, such as horticulture, who have achieved in their own right in that area.”
When the chair of Mackellar Care’s board John Perkins found out the organisation had won, he said, “You beauty”.
“It’s an achievement for the way the staff and the managers run the facilities,” he said.
