Nursing staff at Goulburn Valley Health’s Emergency Department have received assistance to upskill after a donation of $150,000 from Peter Copulos.
Six nurses will receive scholarships of $5000 a year for five years to assist with their postgraduate study in emergency/critical care nursing.
This year, 19 nurses in GV Health’s Emergency Department will pursue postgraduate study in emergency/critical care nursing, an increase of almost double on previous years.
Mr Copulos said the decision to support GV Health came about after hearing about the difficulties COVID-19 presented to the healthcare provider.
“With COVID and all that’s happened, I thought it would be a great thing to have scholarships to attract more parties to get involved in the training of nurses,” he said.
“I have needed to attend the Emergency Department myself a couple of times with the family, and at times there can be a bit of a wait there.
“With the problems we’ve had the past couple of years with staff shortages and so forth, I thought we could make a difference to the service that has been provided.”
The scholarships will allow more nurses to undertake further study and equip them with additional skills and qualifications to treat a wider range of presentations.
For Mr Copulos, the scholarships are an important investment in our growing community.
“I’ve lived in Shepparton ever since I came out here from Macedonia in 1948, that’s over 70 years ago, and I’ve watched Shepparton grow and everything else that goes with it,” he said.
“But I would like our hospitals to get some more services like they've got in Melbourne, so people here don’t have to travel so far.”
GV Health Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Practice, Education and Research educator Monique Camm said the support of Mr Copulos and the broader community was greatly appreciated by the health service.
“This ongoing support from Mr Copulos has assisted so many people with the costs associated with specialising in this area,” Ms Camm said.
“This year the Emergency Department has received and accepted a record number of postgraduate applications through both La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne.
“This valuable cohort of staff apply these specialist skills to treat and assess the people of the Goulburn Valley and we thank Mr Copulos for making the transition to speciality practice that much easier.”