Committed to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Virginia Vaughan approaches her role as Werribee Mercy Hospital Aboriginal Women’s and Children’s Liaison Officer with enthusiasm and warmth.
Virginia, who works alongside Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer Kooramyee Cooper, supports women and children who are patients at Werribee Mercy Hospital and identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Virginia provides cultural support and advocates around aspects of their hospital care.
Werribee Mercy Hospital Aboriginal Women’s and Children’s Liaison Officer Virginia Vaughan
Importantly, she also links the patients to support services in Wyndham and the wider community after they are discharged from hospital. Some of these services include the Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health Nurse at Wyndham City Council, the Footprints for Success Program and Cradle to Kinder run by MacKillop Family Services, which provides specialist support to young families.
As well as a nursing degree, Virginia has a wealth of experience in Aboriginal health. In between having children, she worked for 15 years at The Gathering Place Medical Aboriginal Corporation (The Gathering Place), a community organisation founded and managed by her mother Colleen Marion. The Gathering Place provided culturally sensitive healthcare to Indigenous people in the Wyndham area.
The organisation closed in 2018 but Virginia is now continuing her commitment to Aboriginal health through her role at Werribee Mercy Hospital. “I’m dedicated to improving Aboriginal health, especially in the early childhood years. If we get that right, I think we will be able to close the gap for the future,” she says, referring to Close the Gap: Indigenous Health Campaign, which aims to ‘close the gap’ on healthcare inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Virginia also loves the relationships she builds with the patients and the regular opportunities to cuddle cute babies. “I held a baby for two hours the other day and I thought: ‘I get paid to do this!’ I also just love getting to know the mums and listening to the wonderful stories they have to tell,” she says.
For more information on Mercy Health’s Aboriginal Programs, visit our Aboriginal Programs page.