Each year Regis recognises and celebrates the outstanding contribution our employees make every day with the Regional National Staff Awards. In 2019 there was an outstanding response with 3,500 eligible nominations submitted from staff, residents and families.
The awards celebrate the skill, compassion and vitality in multiple categories recognising innovations, leadership and generous contributions from staff and volunteers. Here are this year’s phenomenal winners.
Winner: Arpit Modi from Regis Burnside
Merit Winner: Jose Duartz from Regis Bulimba
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Winner: Era Bista from Regis Lutwyche
Merit Winner: Kuldeep Kaur from Regis Armadale
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Winner: Rowena Gatchalian from Regis Ringwood
Merit Winner: Akriti Pant from VIC State Office
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Winners: Tom Burrel from Regis Port Stephens and John Lightfoot from Regis Ferny Grove
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Winner: Patricia Carter from Regis Sandgate - Musgrave
Merit Winner: Kiranpal Kaur from Regis Bulimba
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Winner: Andrew Harstonge from Regis Dandenong North
Merit Winner: Vanessa Gardiner from QLD State Office
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Winner: Nick Nagel from National Support Office
Merit Winner: Colleen Williams from National Support Office
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Winner: Leanne Whiter from National Support Office
Merit Winner: Denise Lee from National Support Office
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Winner: Wishing Tree from Regis Bunbury
Merit Winner: Regis Air (Leonie Harre) from Regis Whitfield
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Winner: Hannah Coelho from Regis Kingswood
Merit Winner: Scott Bailey from Regis Wynnum
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Winner: Regis Kingswood
Merit: Regis Alawarra Lodge
Merit: Regis Kirwan
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Arpit is known for building strong relationships with residents and their families based on trust and respect. His excellent care is given with competence, attention and empathy earning him admiration. He is always willing to go that further to ensure residents are comfortable. His reassuring presence has helped many residents feel safe and secure in their new home.
Jose’s fun loving, positive and supportive demeanour makes him a favourite. He communicates carefully and respectfully, tells the residents jokes to make them laugh and takes his time to ensure everything is done well. For Jose, choice is at the forefront of his care and as a result he is often referred to by residents as the “best carer”.
This award is proudly sponsored by Bliss Search Agency Pty Ltd
Era treats every resident as a family member. Always taking residents choice into account, her zest for life and positive attitude means she goes the extra mile to ensure those around her are happy too. Era uses her innovative talents to create a wonderful atmosphere with residents and families unable to speak more highly of her.
According to her team, Kuldeep could be a nominee in multiple categories tonight. Her care, compassion, optimism and passion mean that she is willing to help out other departments at any time. Kuldeep’s calm confidence rubs off as she keeps everything running like a well-oiled machine, with frequent notes from visitors and families praising Kuldeep for her work.
This award is proudly sponsored by MJA Studio
With over 15 years experience at Regis, Rowena is a quiet achiever supporting the Registered and Enrolled Nurses along with PCAs to achieve their best and provide optimal care. Maintaining good communication with families and displaying genuine empathy and compassion in her all interactions, Rowena is a strong example of clinical excellence.
A former winner in this category, again Akriti has been nominated due to her leadership, professionalism and advocacy. Always on the go, Akriti ensures that all staff feel supported and heard and her clinical skills and commitment to safety and quality have gained her the respect of her colleagues, residents and their families.
This award is proudly sponsored by Caremed
Tom Burrell
Tom has been a constant visitor turned volunteer at Port Stephens for 4 years. Arriving at 9:30am every weekday, Tom spends hours chatting to residents, supporting them and assisting wherever possible. Whether it is helping a new resident adjust, assisting on bus trips or working as an active member of the Lifestyle team, Tom is sure to be there with a big bright smile and willingness to do anything for his Regis “family”.
John Lightfoot
The greatest gift we can give our residents is the gift of time – a gift that John gives generously. His rare talent to put a smile on anyone’s face means he is a favourite at Ferny Grove. Motivated by ensuring resident comfort, John has led the way in building a successful and active men’s group and a monthly Orchid Care group, creating close bonds with each member and supporting their goals.
Patricia is referred to as Musgrave’s “unsung hero”. As a member of the WHS committee, Trish keeps her team on top of all processes and safety procedures, while ensuring all housekeeping tasks and documentation are completed, and the needs of residents seen to. Her passion and commitment is always accompanied by her smile and her enthusiasm.
Kiranpal is respected for her years of providing outstanding hospitality services. With a smile and good humour, Kiranpal runs a tight kitchen ensuring that the main priority is resident satisfaction. She regularly visits residents to hear their feedback and provides outstanding service at all times. Kiranpal’s dedication and positive attitude mean she is a trusted team member.
This award is proudly sponsored by
Andrew is clever and imaginative when confronted with obstacles. His dedication to health and safety led to an invention protecting employees from burning themselves on the Baine Marie light source. Working closely with WHS, Andrew helped develop and trial a plastic cover that provides protection from the lamp. These are now installed at a number of our homes.
Vanessa came up with an initiative to ensure hazards were identified and reported in a timely manner. She asked staff to identify and report hazards pictorially with a safety snake mascot included in the photo. This unique and fun exercise encouraged employees to become more active in the hazard reporting process improving safety outcomes for all.
This award is proudly sponsored by BGI Promotions
Launched in April 2019 Wynnum’s Harvest Garden Project has seen the development of a sustainability garden. A passion project, the residents have been growing their own product to eat- producing 10kg of tomatoes, 15kg of sweet potatoes and 10kg of silverbeet so far! Wynnum has also implemented a compost turning bin for kitchen scraps to be recycled .
Milpara is leading the way in environmental innovation by cutting down on consumption of new materials for craft projects. Milpara has proactively reduced their use of single use products and seek out anything they can make use of like old red curtains as tablecloths for Chinese New Year and tiles to make a mural.
This award is proudly sponsored by Immij
Nick’s “unassuming and highly competent” character is “exceptional” according to his colleagues. Patiently responding to queries, Nick consistently provides support and assistance where needed and is always sure of having many notes on the “Wall of Thanks”. Always going one step further when providing a service, Nick is valued and respected by everyone who works with him.
Colleen’s can-do attitude and commitment to going above and beyond make her a valued and admired member of her team. Regularly stepping in to provide support to colleagues and facilities (even sacrificing her own personal time and leave to do so), Colleen’s reliability and positive attitude means she is an integral asset to the People and Culture team.
This award is proudly sponsored by Foxtel
Leanne has been the driving force in procuring the best air mattresses on the market. Dedicated to testing for comfort and ensuring they meet the clinical SMEs review for wound care suitability, Leanne spent 18 nights sleeping at various homes personally testing mattresses. According to her colleagues, her passion and dedication are second to none.
“Always helpful and never complaining” – that is how Denise’s colleagues describe her. A dedicated member of the Legana team, Denise takes pride in her work and goes above and beyond to ensure each resident is looked after. Her humility and enthusiasm are all part of her fantastic customer service as she constantly works towards excellence.
This award is proudly sponsored by Optus and DataVoice
Bunbury’s Wishing Tree allows residents to write down achievable wishes. A “wish leaf” is granted at random bringing pleasure, delight and happiness to the recipient who made the wish. From a simple request for take away food to a River Cruise, the Wishing Tree encourages conversations about hopes, and dreams of wishes coming true.
Regis Air is an innovative way to fulfill travel dreams. With resources developed by Leonie Harre, Regis Air transforms the activity room into a full scale travel experience complete with boarding passes and seat allocation. The destination is incorporated with the monthly Theme Days and is accompanied by an often hilarious safety talk, morning tea and inflight movie.
This award is proudly sponsored by Positive Rehab
Rowena is a strong example of clinical excellence and personal integrity. She maintains good communication with families and displays genuine empathy and compassion in all her interactions. A quiet achiever, Rowena has supported her Registered and Enrolled Nurses along with Personal Care Attendants to achieve their best and provide excellent care.
Hannah leads Kingswood by example. Not afraid to get her hands dirty or help out when things get tough, Hannah is always approachable and eager for feedback. Whether she is proactively driving community engagement, moulding the core team into a tight knit supportive group or hitting record occupancy levels, Hannah is an admired, successful and respected Facility Manager.
Scott has excelled at providing exceptional leadership to his team, leading by example to provide a clear sense of purpose, value and expectation. His calm and confident personality while guiding and leading means staff feel calm and confident. There is a great sense of “family” and “community” from the team which is helped by fantastic leadership.
This award is proudly sponsored by TPG Telecom
The team at Regis Kingswood goes above and beyond for their residents providing excellent service for all in every aspect. After two and a half years of hard work and dedication, Kingswood hit 100% capacity earlier in the year, cementing it as one of our top performers.
Regis Alawarra Lodge excels at ensuring resident and staff satisfaction. Going 3 years without a serious or escalated complaint, zero Registered Nurse resignations in FY19, and zero turnover in senior roles in almost 2 years at time of nomination, Alawarra enjoys a fantastic community reputation.
With their team motto of “Stronger Together” Kirwan has pushed itself to grow and achieve success since joining in 2016. Achieving 98% occupancy in FY19, Kirwan stands proud with a foundation built on hard work, tenacity and resilience to provide exceptional care.
