HESTA award to global recognition

Work

HESTA recently caught up with 2018 HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards Team Excellence winners the Kombi Clinic, to hear how the win enhanced their ability to bring free, life-saving information, treatment and a friendly face to those living with Hepatitis C.

 

Kombi Clinic bucket hat and van

 

Mim O’Flynn, Nurse, Fibroscan expert at the Kombi Clinic and HESTA Award winner. 

 

Thanks for making time for us Mim. What’s changed since we last spoke with you?

So much has happened with Kombi Clinic since we won your very generous award. HESTA’s recognition gave Kombi Clinic a national profile – something that would never have happened at that time without the acknowledgement the award provided.

 

How did you use the award prize money from ME Bank?

We initially used the prize money to purchase a laptop for our data and an iPad for client outreach survey use with the Kombi Clinic. The balance of the money was used to cover general operating costs and merchandise such as our Kombi bucket hats.

In late 2018 Dr Matt Young, Dr Joss O’Loan and I were able to purchase a bright yellow second hand 1975 Volkswagen Kombi called Lucy Sunshine – a more reliable van to take out weekly.

 

Kombi Clinic bucket hat and van

 

Kombi Clinic bucket hat and van.

"Winning the HESTA award has provided the Kombi Clinic with a platform to go forward and do so much more for people that need our assistance."

 

Has the award helped you in the long term?

The national profile given to us through the award enabled us to build our social media platform and would you believe the Kombi Clinic now has international recognition?

In fact, I was fortunate enough to attend two international Hepatitis C conferences in late 2019 and present in Montreal, Canada on the work we do amongst the homeless and marginalised.

Dr Joss and I also received a global award in Valencia, Spain for inspiring the meeting attendees with our outreach work!

All of this as we work towards Hepatitis C elimination, leaving no one behind. 

"Most recently we’ve started working in Queensland Corrections to blitz individual facilities with the new Cepheid GeneXpert point of care testing portable machine, that provides a result from fingerstick in one hour!"

 

Would you recommend other Health and Community Services sector workers nominate others for an award? Why?

Most definitely! Receiving the HESTA award has truly changed lives and outcomes in so many ways. It’s very generous and provides wonderful recognition to individuals and groups that devote themselves to improving the health and wellbeing of other Australians.

Winning the HESTA award has provided the Kombi Clinic with a platform to go forward and do so much more for people that need our assistance.

 

Read about the Kombi Clinic’s HESTA award win >

 

 

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