News
The power of partnership
Partnering with Roche and Angel Flight to deliver vital medical services to our rural health practitioners
An honour to experience what it means to live in a rural community
Rural Doctors Foundation took to the skies again with Angel Flight in the pilots seat, and Amy O’Hara and Kate Roberts from Roche and Nigel from Silver Wolf Productions strapped in for a rural experience not to be forgotten.
Kate from Roche shared it was an honour to see first hand the resilience and unique character of our rural Australians. It reinforced how important access to healthcare is for those living in our rural and remote communities.
Like Rural Doctors Foundation, Roche Australia is known for its dedication to improving patient outcomes and driving innovation in healthcare. Through our partnership we aim to increase access to healthcare services and improve health outcomes for our rural health workforce, who play such a vital role in our communities.
"A partnership is about working together to accomplish a common goal. In a true partnership, respect is present, and power is shared.
With our partnership with Roche and Angel Flight, I think we have nailed what a true partnership looks and feels like."
Fran Avon, CEO
Our partnership with Roche extends beyond financial support. Apart from wanting to experience rural Australia first hand, another of the reasons that Kate and Amy woke at 4am, braved the heat and hung out with our noisy and sometimes crazy team, was to direct Nigel Miller from Silver Wolf Productions. Nigel beautifully captured a day in the life of one of our Treating GPs. Nigel showcased our vast and stunning outback and through his videography distilled the essence of what it means to live in rural Australia. Nigel is a natural storyteller – he kept the team entertained with stories of the amazing places he has visited and the wonderful people he has met along the way.
Roche funded the production of a series of videos. These videos tell our story and in them we hear from those in rural communities how important it is to look after the health of our rural medical workforce, and ultimately those living in rural and remote Australia.
In capturing these stories, we all gained a deeper appreciation for the challenges of living in outback Australia – and more importantly, the specialness of the people who chose to call this often unforgiving land home. We are grateful to Roche for enabling these stories to be told and captured for all to see.
Randal Tokody from Angel Flight also shared stories of his time as a pilot and it was lovely to see the camaraderie that quickly formed between three different organisations, bound together by a common goal.
CEO of Angel Flight, Marjorie Pagani commented; “We are committing to improving health care access for rural people and by providing reliable, on demand air transport for health practitioners to and from the bush, we are contributing to a more sustainable health care model for rural communities.”
Dr John Douyere and the team from Rural Doctors Foundation will fly with Angel Flight from Archerfield to outback Queensland to provide GP services on a regular basis. John was pleased to see a mix of new patients, and some returning for follow up appointments on this visit. Telehealth is also available during our visits.
CEO of Rural Doctors Foundation, Fran Avon, says our partnership with Roche and Angel Flight has come together so easily – the vision of each organisation aligns perfectly.
See the stories that Nigel captured
Talking about the benefits of GPs4RuralDocs
Nigel filmed some of the local GPs and nurses in Charleville talking about what the GPs4RuralDocs program means to them.
Dr John Buckley explains why we need to look after our rural healthcare workers
Dr John Buckley was filmed by Nigel talking about the impact of being a healthcare worker in a rural community and why it is so important to look after those who are caring for our rural communities.
Our CEO, Fran Avon talks about the GPs4RuralDocs program
Listen to our CEO talk about our GPs4RuralDocs program and how it works in our rural communities.
