Carolyn Foote is one of Gateway Health’s longest serving employees, celebrating 29 years with the organisation on July 10.

It all started in 1995, when Ms Foote was looking to return to work after the birth of her fourth child and she saw an ad for administrative officer for the Aged Care Assessment Service at the Ovens & King Community Health Service (OKCHS).

The job fit her skillset quite well as Ms Foote is a “jack of all trades”.

She had experience working as an intensive care nurse, teaching people how to use computers at TAFE, doing administrative work and running a computer consultancy company.

“I applied for that job because I knew of the Ovens & King Community Health Services. A district nurse had visited my farm in Oxley a few times to help with sick kids,” Ms Foote said.

“It had a good reputation in the healthcare industry and seemed like a place that I would enjoy working.”

Ms Foote’s background and skillset have been an asset to helping Gateway Health become the organisation it is today.

In 2014, there were lots of advances happening in technology and in health information.

“I had worked in technology and healthcare before, so I was able to see how these two systems could work together to help Gateway Health make decisions based on the data,” Ms Foote said.

Data is an important part of ensuring that Gateway Health makes decisions that are appropriate for our region.

For example, data collection tells us which languages are spoken most commonly among our refugee or migrant community and Gateway Health can translate materials into the languages they understand.

“When we look at our services through an analytic lens, we are able to show that we’re meeting government targets and where there are opportunities to advocate for more funding to meet community demands,” she said.

As an organisation, Gateway Health knows which programs and/or services are in high demand. For example, it increased mental health services through programs such as the Wangaratta Therapeutic Community and the Gateway Health Psychology Clinic to improve community access.

This July marks the 10th anniversary of the merger of Gateway Community Health in Wodonga and Ovens & King Community Health Service in Wangaratta.

Today, Gateway Health is a charitable, not-for-profit community health organisation providing affordable healthcare, support services, community programs, and outreach initiatives across North East Victoria and parts of southern NSW.

The needs of rural and regional people and communities are our priority when delivering quality care across sites in Wodonga, Wangaratta, Myrtleford, Benalla and Shepparton.