St John of God Bunbury Hospital

16/12/2025

St John of God Health Care extends our deepest condolences to everyone affected by the tragic and distressing events at Bondi Beach in Sydney over the weekend.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and loved ones, the Jewish community, and the first responders and hospital teams caring for those impacted.

Events like this can have a profound effect not only on those directly involved, but on the wider community. We encourage everyone to take care of themselves and one another, to check in on family, friends and colleagues, and to seek support if needed.

If you or someone you know needs support, we encourage people to reach out to:

Lifeline Australia – 131114
Beyond Blue - 1300224636
13 Yarn - 139276

As a healthcare organisation, we stand with our community at this difficult time. St John of God Health Care provides a range of mental health services across New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, including in-hospital care, counselling and community-based support to assist with wellbeing, treatment and recovery.

For more information visit our website: https://mentalhealth.sjog.org.au/

11/12/2025

Congratulations to our Head of Department for Cardiology, Dr Allison Morton on being announced as a finalist in the 2026 WA Rural Health Excellence Awards this week.

Dr Morton moved to Bunbury in 2015 as the first full-time residential cardiologist in the South West.

Recognising that patients in the South West should receive life saving treatment in their local hospital, Dr Morton established the first regional emergency angioplasty service in WA. This means emergency care for those having heart attacks can be provided in their local hospital. Through her hospital commitments and establishing SouthWest Cardiovascular, Dr Morton works tirelessly to improve health outcomes for regional patients with heart disease.

Beyond leading our multi-disciplinary team in the Coronary Care Unit and Angiography suite, Dr Morton plays an active role in the South West community, competing regularly in the Busselton Jetty Swim and providing medical support for those taking on the Busselton Iron Man.

We know patients and family members who have experienced the care of our Coronary Care Unit will join us in congratulating Dr Morton in being named a finalist in the Specialist of the Year (Non-GP) category, after being nominated earlier this year.

The winner will be announced at the awards night in March 2026.

05/12/2025

Thank you to all the caregivers including our paediatric nurses and Clinical Nurse Educator Mandy who worked on getting this booklet updated for our young patients.

Hallie was recently admitted to St John of God Bunbury Hospital for a paediatric procedure. Thanks to our caregivers and the specialist Hallie had a special booklet to help her on this journey.

For Hallie and her family, reading the booklet before her visit reduced their anxiety because they were aware of each step that Hallie would take in the process.

The booklet was given to Hallie by her specialist’s rooms before she was admitted.

Hallie was able to see the pictures and hear about what would happen when her Mum read her the story. Hallie’s mum Crystal said the booklet made a real difference to the process.

Of course Hallie remembered the photo of the ice-cream and jelly cup she would get upon waking.

Thank you to St John of God Murdoch Hospital for sharing the template with us.

05/12/2025

This year we were very pleased to be able to share the story of our caregiver Princess who completed her PhD earlier this year 👏👏👏
Our After Hours Manager Princess Villamin is now Dr Princess Villamin after completing her PhD.
Princess is an inspiration to our caregivers with her dedication to making a difference to others through research.
Her PhD on Migrant Nurse Retention in regional Australia looks at what migrant nurses want and need to stay in the region. Her thesis focused on researching the motivators that encourage nurses to decide to stay in an area after they arrive in the country on a visa and eventually become permanent residents.
As the WA Government has the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, this research is particularly relevant to improving policy and guiding interventions in our health care systems.
Princess received a scholarship to complete her studies through the Central Queensland University online and thanked St John of God Bunbury Hospital for providing flexible working arrangements to reduce her hours and complete her research.

03/12/2025

01/12/2025

Mondays call for a moment to reflect on Clancy🐾🐾
We love seeing the smiles on the faces of our caregivers when they see Clancy our Caregiver Wellbeing Dog.
This pup has grown since he joined us in August 2025! What a superstar.
Thank you to all our caregivers for helping Clancy with his training.

28/11/2025

Congratulations to our October Caregiver of the Month Meaghan 🧡🧡🧡

Meaghan is a Clinical Nurse in our theatres who was nominated for sharing her compassion and respect with all her patients and consistently ensuring that each patient's individual care needs are considered.

Known for providing support to her colleagues, Meaghan is someone who is always willing to help when needed.

Thank you Meaghan for sharing your cheerful disposition and excellent clinical skills. We are blessed to have you as a caregiver.

Meaghan is pictured receiving her award from the Chief Executive Officer Jack Harding.

If you have been a patient in our hospital and would like to recognise one of our caregivers for their dedication to our values visit our website to find out more ⬇️
https://www.sjog.org.au/our-locations/st-john-of-god-bunbury-hospital/about/caregiver-of-the-month

Caregivers can also nominate a colleague using this form.

26/11/2025

Today, we celebrate 130 years since the first eight Sisters of St John of God came to Australia from Ireland.

Arriving in Perth on 25 November 1895, the Sisters began nursing from their convent in Adelaide Terrace before establishing hospitals in WA, Victoria and NSW.

Over the decades, their dedication to excellence saw expansion into a range of specialist services, including maternity services, and a culture of compassion that continues to shape our care today.

We acknowledge their 130 years of extraordinary service to many communities across Australia and thank them for the gift of St John of God Health Care.
As we continue to provide care across Australia and beyond, we do so with the same spirit of compassion and dedication that guided the Sisters of St John of God for decades.

📸Sisters of St John of God, Subiaco, c. 1975 from the St John of God Health Care Heritage Collection

21/11/2025

Thank you to our Visiting Medical Officers General Surgeon Dr Amyn Pardhan and Vascular Surgeon Dr Carsten Ritter for presenting to General Practitioners and health professionals at our GP Education evening last week. A huge thank you to all the busy GPs who took the time to attend.

Our Business Development team have been working with the WA Country Health Service, Bunbury Regional Hospital to deliver GP Education that meets the needs for both public and private patients. This was our second collaborative GP Education event.

We love working with our local GPs. Thanks to all the staff and caregivers for helping us support our GPs and to local GP Dr Dee Arnold for being our MC.

WA Country Health Service

20/11/2025

Our caregivers are doing all they can to care for and protect our patients.
It's World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW)
Thank you to our Infection Prevention and Control team for raising awareness of the importance of this week.
The World Health Organisation theme is “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future.”
Our caregivers work together to protect our patients from developing a drug-resistance infection by:
Pharmacist Travis is reviewing antimicrobial prescriptions ensuring optimal effectiveness.
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Manager Fran is ensuring the patient knows how to correctly take her antibiotics by providing antibiotic educational material.
IPC Clinical Nurse Tash is carrying out early diagnostics to make sure the medicine described is appropriate.
IPC Clinical Nurse Shelley is vaccinating the patient.
IPC Clinical Nurse Jo is carrying out Hand Hygiene to help eliminate the spread of drug-resistant microbes.

Thanks to the support of SouthWest Hospital Pharmacy

To find out more see the World Health Organisation website:
https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-amr-awareness-week/2025

20/11/2025

Every day across our hospitals, services and communities, thousands of acts of care bring our Mission to life – to continue the healing mission of Jesus.

The theme of our 2024–25 Annual Report, Every Moment Matters, captures the aspiration of our new strategy. The report celebrates the impact of compassionate, connected and committed care delivered across Australia and New Zealand.

In the past year we:
🌟 cared for more than 400,000 overnight and same day patients across our hospitals and services,
🌟 welcomed more than 10,609 babies into the world,
🌟 delivered $29.1million in social outreach to support people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, addiction and disadvantage,
🌟 and employed more than 16,000 caregivers guided by our values of Hospitality, Compassion, Respect, Justice and Excellence.

These numbers tell only part of the story. Behind each one is a person cared for with dignity – and caregivers who provide compassionate, connected and committed care every day.

Thank you to our caregivers, doctors and partners for making 2024–25 a year of hope and healing, and to the patients and clients who entrusted us with their care.

The St John of God health Care 2024-25 Annual Report is available at www.sjog.org.au/about-us/annual-report

14/11/2025

We are fortunate to welcome experienced General Surgeons Dr Richard Benny and Dr Amyn Pardhan to our St John of God Bunbury Hospital Medical Suites. Dr Benny and Dr Pardhan have moved their practice Bunbury General Surgical Services to Suite 9, Level 1 of our hospital.

🩺 Dr Benny has more than 29 years’ experience in the medical field and 14 years’ experience as a General Surgeon in Australia. Dr Benny is passionate about rural surgery as he completed his Rural Surgery Fellowship training in Alice Springs, Darwin and Wagga Wagga. He has broad interests and experience in the area of General surgery including hernia surgery endoscope, carpal tunnel release and lymph node biopsy.

🩺 Dr Pardhan completed a Trauma Fellowship at Royal Perth Hospital in 2013 then moving to Bunbury Regional Hospital in 2015. He has since undertaken General Surgery Specialist Training, graduating as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Dr Pardhan is also trained in laparoscopic/open surgical procedures and endoscopic procedures. He has an interest in all types of general surgery.

Their new location will allow these specialist to have consults with patients at the hospital, easily attend theatre and see their patients after surgery.

Please make them feel welcome in their new location 👋

For further information see their Find a Specialist Profiles on our website:
Dr Benny
https://www.sjog.org.au/find-a-specialist/search-results/b/e/n/n/benny-richard

Dr Pardhan
https://www.sjog.org.au/find-a-specialist/search-results/p/a/r/d/pardhan-amyn