For Werribee Mercy Hospital Special Care Nursery Nurse Cassie Brooks, and new mum Laura Suchanek, Mercy Health is in their DNA.
Cassie was born at Mercy Maternity Hospital in East Melbourne in 1980. She gave birth to her three children at Werribee Mercy Hospital, before completing her graduate year at the hospital as a mature age student in 2016. Cassie now works in Werribee Mercy Hospital’s Special Care Nursery. Until recently, her grandmother was a resident of Mercy Place Keon Park.
Cassie’s connections with Mercy Health run deep and strong
Cassie’s connections with Mercy Health run deep and strong, firmly tying her to the 101-year-old organisation, she says.
“When I saw that Mercy Health was celebrating its 100th year last year, it was only then that I stopped and realised just how connected I am,” Cassie says. “And I plan to work for the rest of my career here so those connections are only going to become stronger.”
The 40-year-old was inspired to train as a nurse and work for Mercy Health after meeting the team of Mercy Health midwives who helped deliver her three babies.
That’s Werribee Mercy Hospital to me – it’s family, it’s compassionate, it’s a little community and I love it.
“For the birth of my third child, my midwife Rachel stayed with me for an hour after her shift had ended because she wanted to be my support right throughout. When my baby was born, Rachel and I cried together and celebrated together. The support she gave me was incredible and it was then that I realised that nursing would be an incredible thing to do in life.”
Cassie found her calling helping to nurse very unwell babies back to health in Werribee Mercy Hospital’s Special Care Nursery
During her nursing training at Werribee Mercy Hospital, Cassie found herself drawn to newborn babies. She started working in the hospital’s Special Care Nursery five years ago and embraces every day she spends there.
“Our hospital feels like a community,” she says. “Werribee Mercy Hospital started out as a small country hospital and even though we’ve grown and have many areas of expertise, it still has that country hospital feel. That’s Werribee Mercy Hospital to me — it’s family, it’s compassionate, it’s a little community and I love it.”
Laura Suchanek is also deeply connected to Mercy Health. When Laura gave birth to her first baby at Werribee Mercy Hospital on 16 July, 2020, one day before her due date, she was impressed by baby Isla Rose’s timely arrival, something she failed to achieve at her own birth.
“I arrived late,” Laura laughs. “According to due dates, I was expected to be the very first baby born at the newly opened Werribee Mercy Hospital, but I wasn’t very cooperative for my mum, Nevenka. I was the hospital’s second baby born instead. My mum missed out on a year’s supply of nappies because I didn’t arrive on time.”
Laura and Michael Suchanek with baby Isla Rose
Laura arrived on 21 June 1994, one of five babies born on that significant day in Mercy Health’s history. Choosing Werribee Mercy Hospital for her own pregnancy care 26 years later was a “no-brainer.”
“There was never any doubt that I’d have my baby in Werribee Mercy Hospital,” Laura says. “We live close by and family members have had babies here. But, because I was born there, and we knew we were having a baby girl, it felt right and really nice that we could come full circle.”
Cassie and Laura are sharing their stories as part of the 101 reasons to celebrate Mercy Health campaign, held to mark 101 years of Mercy Health.
Last reviewed March 25, 2021.