Gold Coast Health is recognised for quality patient care, nursing and midwifery excellence and innovations in professional nursing and midwifery practice under the Magnet® Recognition Program.
"Walking together in kindness" artwork produced for Gold Coast Health by Riki Salam, We are 27 Creative.
It’s been a year of achievements for the Waijungbah Jarjums team – from expanding to a new facility to now being named the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) Maternity Service of the Year.
The national announcement was made earlier this month at the ACM Gold Coast conference, alongside the award for Midwife or the Year and Student of the Year.
“I feel incredibly proud of the team,” Acting Midwifery Unit Manager Megan said on receiving the award.
“We do these jobs because we have a passion for First Nations health care and want to do right by the families we care for every step of the way. Receiving this award makes me feel like we're on the right path and what we're doing is being seen and felt by the wider community.”
Waijungbah Jarjums provides culturally responsive pregnancy, birth and child health support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Since opening in 2019, more than 3,000 patients have accessed the service.
As part of the submission process, the team described how they consistently perform above and beyond to provide care for mothers and babies; an outstanding or innovative aspect of the service; and their commitment to providing a positive and nurturing workplace culture for midwives.
“Waijungbah Jarjums demonstrates outstanding innovation through its expansion of culturally safe women’s health services,” Megan said.
“A key example of this is the establishment of our new gynaecological and sexual health clinic that responds directly to gaps in culturally appropriate healthcare access.
“Additionally, we have been committed to building and strengthening the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce. We have intentionally recruited predominantly identified staff and are actively supporting the development of First Nations midwives into senior leadership positions to reflect the communities being served.”
The service relocated to a larger facility in Nerang in July, allowing a one-stop shop for its programs including antenatal and postnatal care, hypnobirthing courses and child health assessments.
“We’ve grown so much as a service, and there’s still so much happening behind the scenes as we continue to grow and develop what Waijungbah Jarjums can offer our community,” Clinical Midwife Sarah said.
“This award is such a beautiful recognition of the relationships, culture and community that sit at the heart of our service.
For so many of us, Waijungbah Jarjums is more than just a job — it’s something we genuinely live and breathe.”
“Working for Waijungbah is a privilege and we really are a family and this will be celebrated by the whole team,” Megan added.
Join us in congratulating the team on this outstanding and well-deserved achievement!
To learn more about the service, visit its page.
