NSW Nationals Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh has congratulated two local winners in the 2020 Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards.
Two of Coffs Harbour’s best are Trish Lemin, co-winner of the Nurse of the Year award, and Amelia Bolt of the Coffs Harbour Cancer Institute, winner of the Aboriginal Nurse/Midwife of the Year award.
The virtual ceremony was streamed across NSW, allowing communities and colleagues to come together to celebrate nursing and midwifery.
“Both Trish and Amelia are deserving winners of their respective awards in an exceptionally challenging year,” Mr Singh said.
“Every day they demonstrate the commitment and skills of nurses and midwives. This is particularly important as we celebrate the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.”
In 2020, Trish’s courage and dedication took her from COVID-19 ground zero in China to the bushfires of the NSW South Coast.
As a trauma expert, and a nurse of almost 40 years, Trish’s skills and professionalism are widely sought. She is a go-to person in times of crisis.
Nursing Unit Manager for the Cancer Institute in Coffs Harbour, Amelia is a proud Gumbaynggirr woman who is passionate about the health of Aboriginal people and their equity of access to cancer services.
Her aspiration for Indigenous care in the coming years and into the future is to close that gap. Her progression from a mature-age new graduate nurse to the District’s first Aboriginal Nursing Unit Manager with the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute (MNCCI) has seen Amelia become a role model for the provision of culturally-appropriate cancer care.
