End of an era for Mike Lacey
Mike Lacey retired this week after joining the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Cairns nearly 28 years ago.
WHEN Mike Lacey joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Cairns nearly 28 years ago, it had one plane, 17 staff and was based on a suburban block at Edge Hill.
By the time he retired this week, it had grown to four planes, 120 staff and a $5.3 million base at Cairns Airport – the largest in Australia.
“It was the best job. I don’t regret a moment of it at all,” Mike said. “It’s been a fascinating organisation to work with and done all kinds of great things – providing a health service to rural and remote people who needed it.”
The Cairns base of RFDS opened in 1972 with Mike appointed base manager in May 1989 and taking charge of cor- porate quality and compliance for the Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa bases five years ago.
He said the RFDS was initially based at Edge Hill to avoid interference with aviation equipment at the airport.
“When the base started in 1972 we used very powerful radio equipment and there were suggestions of interference with the avionics. At that point, we only had one aeroplane, so we didn’t need to be at the airport.”
Today the aeromedical organisation – one of the world’s largest – has 10 pilots based in Cairns and 12 full-time doctors, as well as part-time and locum doctors.
“We have a fairly significant primary health care role, men- tal health workers, health educators, the aeromedical crew who do retrieval work and bring patients in ...” Mike said.
“Maternal and child health services go into communities to see mothers.
“We also have doctors and nurses who go and do general practice clinics remotely.”
The RFDS in Cairns services an area from the northernmost island in the Torres Strait, west to Croydon and Normanton and south to Townsville.
“We work in with Townsville,” Mike said. “We transport roughly 100 patients a month from the bush to Cairns but also take patients to Townsville and Brisbane.”
Mike said he joined the RFDS after 14 years as an ad- ministration officer and auditor in Papua New Guinea – working there before and after independence – and seven years as executive officer for the Canegrowers organisation at Gordonvale.
“PNG was fascinating. I was young and adventurous and enjoyed that. I met and married my wife there.”
Mike, 68, has started writing a history of the RFDS in Cairns and has become an accredited life coach to help people transition into retirement.
“My first client will probably be me,” he said.
The RFDS is planning to name one of its conference rooms in honour of Mike: “I’m really chuffed about that. It was completely unexpected.”