New health chief adopts teamwork

Rural Northwest Health’s new chief executive Kevin Mills is blending his sporting values into his leadership role.

Mr Mills said he was a strong believer in taking advantage of teamwork to get the best result and planned to implement the strategy to ensure the region had the best possible health services.

“I’m looking forward to making an impact both in my new role and in the community,” he said.

“But whatever that might be, it will be the result of a team effort. I’m huge on team.”

Mr Mills’ sporting prowess is above average. He played 135 senior games for Kalkee Football Club and notched up six premierships in that time.

He also found time to win a premiership with Blackheath Cricket Club’s A Grade cricket team, despite a lifetime summer devotion to tennis.

Mr Mills continues to play sport and intends to get involved as much as possible in his new community.

When he was based at Edenhope, he joined his sons on the hockey field and plans to continue playing at Warracknabeal.

Growing up on a Kalkee farm with three sisters and three brothers, Mr Mills made an early choice to start a career in accountancy.

He studied at university in Adelaide and worked in private and public sector organisations in South Australia and Victoria.

His career in the not-for-profit sector resumed when he moved back to Horsham working with Skillinvest, before a seven-year stint at Wimmera Unitingcare, now Uniting Wimmera, as chief finance officer.

After that he moved his young family to Edenhope, where he took over as chief executive of Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital.

Mr Mills said he made his role at Edenhope easier by drawing on the experience and knowledge of executives throughout the region.

“I did a lot of networking early and made sure I was learning about my role from the right people,” he said.

“I spent a great deal of time talking with the chief executive and executive members at Rural Northwest Health, because the service was held in such high regard throughout the industry. From the moment I started at Edenhope, I viewed Rural Northwest Health as an industry leader. I was also very envious of the wonderful facilities.”

Mr Mills said he was looking forward to making an impact on the community and with the Rural Northwest Health team.

“The executive members all talk very highly of the teams in their various departments and my first priority will always be to those people who make up this great team to make our health service the best,” he said.

“Since arriving, I have really enjoyed spending time with various teams through training, meetings and reviews, which is helping me to gain a greater understanding of Rural Northwest Health.”

Mr Mills said he was working with the board and executive on several strategic initiatives.

They include a project to gain priority access for rural communities to appointment times, in person and through Telehealth, at Royal Children’s Hospital; advocacy to the Primary Health Network to enable referrals to primary mental health services by social workers and other councillors directly – the current process requires a GP referral; continuing work with Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital, Wimmera and West Wimmera health services, and Hindmarsh and Yarriambiack councils to establish a rural outreach program for mental health; expansion of well-being model YCHANGE and other community health projects in partnership with other health services, councils and service providers.

Mr Mills said he was also excited at the number of graduates who would be working and training at Rural Northwest Health in 2019.

“This is a great opportunity for us to help this group have a wonderful start and help shape the future of our workforce,” he said.

“I am confident that we provide a skilled workforce and a wonderful environment where they can flourish.”