Last week, Northern Health’s Spiritual Care, Palliative Care and Social Work teams hosted a memorial service to honour the memory of those who passed away at Northern Health.

The service, ‘A time to remember’, was an opportunity for loved ones and staff to join together to remember those who passed away at Northern Health between December 2023 and May 2024. The service also paid tribute to Northern Health staff who have passed away.

The event was attended by 145 people and 40 staff, including Dr Andrea Kattula, Northern Health Board Member, Debra Bourne, Interim Chief Executive, Linda Romano, Acting Chief Operating Officer and representatives from Palliative Care, Social Work and Spiritual Care. The Northern Health Community Choir also performed at the service.

Debra Bourne praised the efforts of the teams involved in the service.

“I am really thankful for both the opportunity to attend and the wonderful team we have here at Northern Health to lead this in such a compassionate and kind manner. How Natalia Dewiyani and Melanie Moore hold that room, that is full of so much grief, with such compassion and empathy, is truly inspiring,” she said.

“It was a real privilege to be part of the ceremony.”

During the service, guests were invited to reflect by choosing a flower that represented an element – grief, courage, memories, love, peace and hope – that was meaningful to them. The flowers were beautifully placed on a community tree in memory of those being honoured, creating a very colourful representative of attendees thoughts and feelings.

Natalia Dewiyani, Spiritual Care Coordinator, said a highlight of the event was people sharing their stories.

“A gentleman shared a beautiful story in honour of his wife whom he was married to for 70 years. His wish to everyone was to enjoy life. In this service, those attending are invited to honour their grief in a healthy way and encourage them s to leave their guilt here. It was comforting to hear the words of encouragement from him too,” she said.

“Many attendees expressed their gratitude for the care they received at Northern Hospital. It shows Northern Health really cares and the continuation of the holistic care. Seeing familiar faces of the staff looking after their loved ones brings comfort and in a way a closure for them and for the staff.”

Julius Quiring, Nurse Unit Manager, Palliative Care, thanked everyone involved for delivering yet another beautiful service.

“A sincere thank you to all the teams involved, led by the Spiritual Team, for organising another meaningful and seamless memorial service, offering families the closure they needed,” he said.

“Special gratitude to the Palliative Care Unit team for their invaluable contributions and presence, and to our ANUM, Sam Webster, whose beautiful song and guitar playing deeply touched everyone and brought many to tears. It was truly moving to witness families remembering our nurses and expressing their gratitude for the exceptional care and kindness they had received.”

For more information about Northern Health’s Spiritual Care department, please visit the Intranet.

Featured image L-R: Penelope Vye, Associate Director, Social Work and Spiritual Care, Melanie Moore, Spiritual Care Practitioner, Natalia Dewiyani, Spiritual Care Coordinator, Debra Bourne, Interim Chief Executive and Kelly Pinto, Spiritual Care Practitioner.