Speak Out
August 2014
33
End of an era: Celebrating 59 years of Speech Pathology
Service at Royal Perth Hospital – Shenton Park Campus
The Speech Pathology
Department
at Royal Perth
Hospital – Shenton Park Rehabilitation
Campus, celebrated nearly 60 years
of service in May with an afternoon
soirée to mark the end of an era. The
Shenton Park Campus will close in
October this year and move to the new
state of the art State Rehabilitation Unit
at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital in
Murdoch, Western Australia.
Current staff and former speech
pathologists attended, including
Audrey Baker, the first ever Head
of Department. Audrey joined the
Department in 1955 and was awarded
lifetime membership to Speech
Pathology Australia in 1977 for services
to the profession.
Many guests made a special effort to
be part of the celebrations including
former Head of Department Helen
Sjardin from Tasmania, and Professor
Ann Zubrick who sent a video-recorded
message from Europe. Shenton Park
neurologist Dr Rob Edis spoke of the
contribution of the Department to
the hospital over the years. Former
patient Mrs Gillian McRae gave a
speech to highlight the many positive
experiences and benefits she took from
her speech pathology treatment at
Shenton Park.
To show the developments speech
pathology has made in more than 50
years the organising committee created
a 1970s-style speech pathologists
workstation and created a timeline of
key events.
The Shenton Park Speech Pathology
Department has played a significant role
in developing adult speech pathology
services in Western Australia and it was
important to highlight and celebrate just
how far the profession had come.
The event was a wonderful opportunity
to reminisce and the great turnout
shows the high regard staff have for the
time they spent at the Shenton Park
rehabilitation hospital.
Jan Zach
Senior Speech Pathologist
RPH – Shenton Park Campus
BRANCH news
western australia
Call for 2016 Conference Convenor
Speech Pathology Australia is now calling for expressions of interest from
WA members
for the position of 2016 Conference Convenor. Expressions of
interest should include a covering letter stating relevant experience and a curriculum
vitae to support the application.
The application should be submitted to Pamela Richards, National Conference
Manager, via email
Applications close
Monday 8 September 2014
.
Above: Current and former speech pathology staff
(from left) Rebecca Kingston, Elysha Cummins,
Natasha Dodd, Jodie Ballingall and Sinead Hartnett.
Above, from left: Peta Lithgo, Noelle Dawson,
Jonathan Kester, Caroline Silver in front of the timeline.
Above: First Head of Department Audrey Baker with
current Head of Department Melita Brown.
