The North Coast is home to an eclectic range of health services, from mental health initiatives and Indigenous support, to allied health and cancer screening collaboratives. Good health care comes from more than just primary health, which is why North Coast Primary Health Network’s (NCPHN) Primary Health Care Excellence Awards invited submissions from all in 2017.
The 2017 Primary Health Care Excellence Awards welcomed submissions from individuals and programs from both primary and social care. The inclusion of community organisations makes this a truly unique celebration of excellence within Australia.
Finalists in the four categories: Integration & Partnership, Innovation, Improving Health Care Access and Promoting Healthy Living, were selected by 20 judges made up of community members, academics and health professionals. These 12 Finalists have been notified and include: The Buttery’s Crystal Methamphetamine Project, a Struggling after Suicide Attempt program, and an Aboriginal Women’s Heart Disease Awareness program.
Judges also selected a Community Choice Finalist from each category:
- Lismore Helping Hands for empowering the Lismore community to seek and offer help following the March 2017 major flood
- Byron Bay Community Association for their quick and innovative response to the needs of the elderly and homeless community
- NNSW Health Literacy Project for providing consumer health information that is easily understood and supports people’s increased knowledge
- Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters (NRVS) for working to improve vaccination rates in the North Coast
Who receives the 2017 Community Choice Award is now up to the community via an online vote.
“We are asking that the recipient of the 2017 Community Choice Award be determined by the people that use the services and others like it on the North Coast. This will help us determine the kinds of services our communities want,” said NCPHN Chief Executive Vahid Saberi.
“We want people to view the two-minute videos online, vote for their favourite, and share these videos with their friends and family to help spread the word of the wonderful work being done in the North Coast.”
The four finalist videos can be viewed at www.ncphn.org.au/excellence/community-choice
Voting is open now and closes on Monday 4 September. The recipient of the 2017 Community Choice Award will be announced at the 2017 Primary Health Care Excellence Awards, held on Thursday 7 September.
Contact: Bronwyn Thirkell, Knowledge & Innovation, NCPHN
Ph: 66185445 | Email:
For a quote from one of the four finalists contact:
Elly Bird, Lismore Helping Hands Ph: 0418 639 927
Cat Seddon, Byron Community Centre Ph: 0403 787 403
Taya Prescott, Project Officer Ph: 0419 804 355
Rachel Heap, NRVS member Ph: 0422 937 058
