DECEMBER 2023
ISSUE 9
WHITE OAK NEWS The latest news from White Oak Home Care Services
NEWS & FEATURES White Oak Christmas Picnic PAGE 1
Message from the General Manager Joondalup Refurbishment Flare Benefits on offer PAGE 2
Celebrating 10 Years of Service Welcome New Starters Physiotherapist for White Oak PAGE 3
Wedding Bells for Cassie Staff Facebook Page Current Vacancies PAGE 4
Staff Spotlight On PAGE 5
Photo of the Quarter Competition PAGE 6
Sun shines at Christmas Picnic Perfect weather conditions at Whiteman Park greeted the team for White Oak’s annual Christmas party, a family picnic and BBQ at the Pavilion site. It was once again a great opportunity for support workers and office staff to catch up and meet face to face, as well as meet family members. It was wonderful to see both new and familiar faces and enjoy the sunshine, sausages and company. Outdoor games on the shaded lawn kept the children (and adults) busy. Thank you to everyone who made the effort to attend, we hope you enjoyed the sunny afternoon.
Message from the General Manager As we enter the festive season, I’d like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to all of our wonderful staff, who continue to work so hard in everything they do. This year has certainly been a busy one with the expansion of our Allied Health team, award of the Transitional Care Program and management of the Villa Dalmacia Day Centre just to name a few!
As we look ahead to 2024, there are so many reasons to feel excited as we continue to see White Oak expand. Since our humble beginnings over 25 years ago, it’s with complete certainty that our compassionate team and can-do attitude of our staff is what makes White Oak such a fantastic company. I am so proud of the hard work, dedication and care you all show in giving our clients the absolute best in care. I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I hope you enjoy this Christmas edition of our staff newsletter, with all the latest news on what is happening in the White Oak family. I wish you all a happy and joyful Christmas with your families and a safe and wonderful 2024.
Treasa Refurbishment for Joondalup office
Flare Benefits on offer
After White Oak’s Joondalup office having been given the go-ahead for a much-needed office refurbishment, it’s all systems go! Scheduled to be completed the week before Christmas, the office upgrade will result in a more open feeling workspace with the removal of the pods, new ergonomic desks and chairs, partitions as well as fresh paint and artwork.
With Christmas around the corner, now is a great time to make the most of the discounts on offer via the Flare app. Exclusive to our HR platform Elmo and made available to all White Oak employees, there are a multitude of savings from major retailers including Woolworths, JB HiFi, Red Balloon, Specsavers, Big W, and many more. Head to Elmo and download the Flare App to start saving.
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STAFF NEWSLETTER
of service Huge congratulations to our wonderful Support Workers Debbie Burton and Kellee Parsons , who both recently achieved 10 years of service. Debbie and Kellee both joined White Oak in 2013 when the company was a much smaller business. Amidst the growth and expansion of White Oak Debbie and Kellee have remained dedicated to providing compassionate care to our clients. Kellee and Debbie, congratulations to you both on achieving this milestone. We are immensely grateful for
to our new starters! Welcome to our new team members who have recently joined the White Oak Family: Talia Kite Debra Beavan-Davis Menuka Poudel Madeleine Buck
your commitment.
Sandra Holt
At White Oak we are proud to recognise an increasingly
Dee Nesbitt
large number of our team members achieve impressive
Sonam Choden
milestones. Although this has been mentioned in earlier
Kezang Wangmo
newsletter editions, the following team members have also
Tshering Lhamo
reached 10 years of service:
Susan Alkhabbaz
Karen Travers Kylie Fisher Susan Davidson
Shagun Sachdeva
Saraswati Pradhan Sherryl Howie Angela Thomas Kymberly McDonald
We also recognise the following team members who have
Rachel Brickenden
reached an amazing 15 years of service:
Wega Weitling Mercy Cherono
Denise Cassidy
Peyton Brown
Clare Pullin
Clerize Fouche
Shona Harris
Anna Fouche
Well done everyone on your continued dedication and commitment.
Sandra Nikich Atitaya Boonchuay
Physiotherapist for White Oak We are delighted to announce the appointment of Madeleine Buck, who has joined the team as White Oak’s first Physiotherapist. Complementing our allied health team of Occupational Therapists and our clinical nursing team, Madeleine can fill the gap of a much-needed physiotherapy service for our clients. Welcome Madeleine!
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STAFF NEWSLETTER
Wedding bells for Cassie Huge congratulations are in order for our much-loved Home Care Package Coordinator Cassandra Edmondston, with news of her recent engagement. We’ re all very excited for you Cassie and we wish you all the very best in this exciting chapter ahead.
Many of our regular updates are posted on our staff Facebook page so if you haven’t yet joined, be sure to head to https://www.facebook.com/groups/whi teoakstaffinformation and join our group. We regularly post our updated policies and procedures on this page, as well as news on events and things happening within the company. We also publish surveys and the monthly compliments received by our staff, which is always fantastic to read.
current vacancies We love to receive personal recommendations of people that you feel would be a great fit to the White Oak family. We are currently recruiting for Support Workers (especially East and North) so if you know of any friends or family that like you, love helping others, we’d love to hear from them! We also have the following available positions: Scheduler Occupational Therapist Physiotherapist Simply forward them this link to the careers section on our website, so they can apply directly: Careers at White Oak | Work For Perth's Leading Home Care Service Provider
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STAFF NEWSLETTER
STAFF SPOTLIGHT ON... Sam Smith Home Care Package Team Leader When did you commence working at White Oak? March 2018 Describe some of the things you do in your current role: Operational management leadership of the Home Care Package Team including 6 Coordinators and 3 Service Support Officers; staff training mentoring; client on boarding/reviews; recruitment; client engagement and feedback; chairing of team meetings; building and fostering relationships with external health professionals. Can you tell us what you love most about working at White Oak? The people and the solid family foundations on which the company was built. What do you love doing in your spare time? Eating out and mini staycations, as well as being at the beach Are you a tea or coffee person? Both! If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why? There are so many places I want to travel, but Canada and Japan would have to be at the top of the list.
Hip Hip Hooray To all our fabulous team members born this month, we wish you a most special day.
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STAFF NEWSLETTER
Photo of the Quarter Competition We received another round of fantastic entries this quarter and as always, picking a winner was no mean feat. Congratulations to this edition’s winner: Support Worker Christine Davis , for her stunning photo of Hyden’s Mulka Cave. Christine, 2 gold class movie tickets are on their way to you. Have you taken a photo that’s worth entering our Photo of the Quarter competition? It could be something that’s made you laugh, a shot of nature or anything you fancy! As long as you’ve taken the photo yourself, it’s eligible. Email your photo to alison.visser@whiteoak.com.au for chance to win two Gold Class movie tickets. You’ve gotta be in it to win it, so even if you missed out this time, keep them coming for your chance to win.
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STAFF NEWSLETTER