Chairman, John Bentley, reported on the Council's achievements during the past year and thanked other members of the Executive.

Members and Health Services manager, Caren Harrison, paid tribute to John's leadership for the last six years and the satisfaction of now seeing the completed new Hospital.

Mr Joe Sullivan was then elected to the position of Chairperson, with members looking forward to working together with him to achieve the best outcomes in health for the community.

Joe has been on the Mudgee Health Council for the past six years and brings with him 15 years experience, as an executive member of the Dunedoo Hospital Board, holding multiple positions in his time, including Chair.

In his final annual report as chair of "a vibrant, forward-looking Health Council", John reflected on the year that's been since the previous AGM and how they couldn't have fully predicted how it unfolded.

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"Last year's Annual Report ended with the words 'roll on 2020', as we anticipated an historic year, particularly with the opening of the new Hospital," he reported.

"It has been historic, but for more reasons than the doors of our wonderful new health facility opening in May - the pandemic has assured that."

As a result Health Council plans were impacted, with events based on face-to-face interactions having to be postponed or abandoned. And unfortunately, due to restrictions on numbers, only one member was able to go to official opening of the new Hospital.

Nevertheless John reported that they pushed on with their mission to "represent our community", which was carried out during one of their plan priorities in particular.

"Support the Transition to the New Hospital was effectively completed by July, just over one month after the new building's patients and staff were in place," he reported.

"Health Council was a continuous part of the planning for this building from its earliest stages, over five years ago, we succeeded in influencing for the better some decisions made in the design process."

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