GUEST SPEAKER - JOHN PARKINS

The Chair Steve Giddens introduced our guest speaker for the night – John Parkinson from St John of God.

John was born in Port Fairy and grew up on a dairy farm. His interests are anything outdoors and making stuff in the shed. In 1974 John began working in mental health aged 17, at Brierly Hospital. In 1993, with the decommissioning of large psychiatric hospitals, John continued as a Community Psychiatric Nurse in a team leader role until 1999. In 1999 he purchased a half share of the East Warrnambool fish shop until 2006. In 2006 John returned to SWHC Psychiatric Services for 15 months. In 2007 he began to develop “a choice” for the community other than the public system for people experiencing anxiety, mild to moderate degrees of depression, stress related problems that are primarily managed by their general practitioner for the South West of Victoria under St John of God Health Care Inc. Warrnambool Division. This service has now grown to providing treatment and supporting over 145 GP’s receiving 816 referrals last year and has 16 Caregivers comprised of a Director of Psychiatry, Mental Health Nurses, Psychologists, Social Workers, a Recreational Activities Officer and Administration Support, located at the Glenrye Centre on the Botanic Road site.

The Service's activity is 99% outpatients, although it does provide assistance to inpatients where there are symptoms identified that will benefit from involvement from the Specialist Mental Health Team. It is a free service to all out patients due to Federal Funding streams and St John of God Health Inc Social Outreach Program.

John’s presentation was about a pilgrimage he recently made to Spain and Ireland. St John of God has many hospitals all around Australia and employs over 10,000 staff. Every year the St John of God organisation selects and funds 12 staff members to go on a pilgrimage visiting Ireland and Spain to learn about the history and background of St John of God.  John explained the SJOG nuns originated in Ireland in the 1800s when poverty was so terrible people ate mostly potatoes and oatmeal. Then the potato famine hit Ireland and thousands of people starved to death. An English politician led a push to create funded  “poor houses” where only really destitute people could go for help.  The nuns who had previously worked with the poor started caring for the sick. To learn more they travelled to France to learn how to be nurses. On their return they split from their former duties of tending the poor to devote their time and effort to nursing the sick.  Bishop Thomas Furlong suggested they name themselves the sisters of St John of God.  St John of God was a man who worked with the sick and poor in Grenada in Spain between 1550 and 1600.  John showed us photographs of old church buildings and shrines in Ireland and also film he had taken inside the magnificent Basilica in Grenada Spain. The Basilica is a very ornate and opulent building and testament to St John of God’s tenacious fund raising for the poor.

John said the visit and his exposure to the wealth of the church tested his faith and the direction St John of God health care is now taking. John explained the original mission and values of the Order remain but St John of God hospitals are now run as corporate enterprises and they no longer offer free services to the poor.

Steve Giddens thanked John for the interesting presentation and told him an anti-malarial mosquito net will be donated to a family in New Guinea on his behalf as a thank you.

President Maree closed the meeting and asked that everyone check the roster to see if they were down for any duties at future meetings and to check details listed in the Bulletin.  If they were listed and unable to make the meeting, to arrange for someone else to take their spot.