PRIMARY CARE
In Conversation ...with Sandy Gillies, CEO of the Western Qld PHN Amy Sarcevic
B
efore Sandy Gillies became Chief Executive of the Western Queensland Primary Health Network (PHN), she knew from firsthand experience the challenges she might be confronted with. As a First Nations woman “born and bred in the bush”, Gillies already understood the plight of rural and remote Australians in accessing health care, long before she took on the role that would address it. Her drive to enhance health equity began at a young age and was cemented numerous times following the premature deaths of multiple close contacts. Gillies believes these people may have seen a different fate had they resided in a different postcode. “I was really born into the social justice and equity agenda, given my cultural background. But it’s an agenda that has sadly been
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HOSPITAL + HEALTHCARE
reinforced time and time again throughout my personal life and career,” she told Hospital + Healthcare. “In a city like Brisbane, you get sick, you get seen and have all the tests under the sun, often right away. Out here in the bush, it’s sometimes a week and a 400 km round trip. There’s this assumption that you have money, a motor vehicle and the literacy to understand what’s going on, when that isn’t the case for so many.”
Changing the tide
Indeed, disadvantage is rife in Western Queensland, where First Nations people account for 17.2% of the population — significantly higher than the state average of 4%. In some
SUMMER 2024
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