In the final weeks of 2021, I will be looking back on this year with pride at the way our community has come through another pandemic year with its COVID-19 outbreaks, government mandated lockdowns and physical distancing restrictions. I am grateful to everyone who has rolled up their sleeves for the COVID-19 vaccination so that we can begin to move towards a brighter and more connected future. I am also proud of our extraordinary staff for continuing to care for the people we serve with kindness and compassion, even as the pandemic continued to change and challenge us all.
Mercy Health Group Chief Executive Officer Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen.
I think this is what Catherine McAuley, Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, meant when she said, “We must try to be like those rivers which enter into the sea without losing any of the sweetness of the water”. Her vision was for the Sisters of Mercy to go out into the world and take with them a distinctive, compassionate care to comfort the sick and vulnerable and give them hope in darkness.
The pages of this edition of Our Voice, and others before, are full of stories of the compassion and hope people have received through Mercy Health — mothers-to-be suffering from preeclampsia giving birth to healthy babies, thanks to the life-saving research of the Mercy Perinatal team; centenarians receiving practical home care assistance so they can continue to live independently, even at 101 years of age; people lost in the darkness of grief comforted and guided by our palliative care counsellors; and aged care residents experiencing the joy of making new friends through intergenerational programs.
There are many more wonderful stories of care, unwritten but appreciated, happening every single day across our organisation.
On behalf of the Mercy Health Board and Executive, I thank you for your amazing resilience this year and wish you all a happy Christmas and a hope-filled new year of bringing God’s mercy to those in need.
Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen
Group Chief Executive Officer
Last reviewed December 19, 2021.