North West Hospital and Health Service

04/09/2026

🌏 We’re heading to the Mount Isa Multicultural Festival! 🎉

Come say hello to the North West HHS team, have a yarn and join us in celebrating the many cultures that make our community what it is. 🧡

See you there! 👋

Get in early if you want to avoid the rush. We kick off at 6pm, hope to see you there! 🍜🍰🍰🍛🍛

31/08/2026

✨ THE EARLY 2000s ARE SO BACK ✨

The Jonas Brothers? Back.
Platforms? Back.
Low-rise jeans? Somehow back.
Digital cameras? Back.
Ugg boots? Never really left.

Syphilis?

Yeah… we need to talk about that one. 😬

September is SYPH-Tember, because apparently syphilis got the Y2K comeback memo too. Unlike your Juicy tracksuit, though, this is one revival we absolutely do not want.

Syphilis is a s*xually transmitted infection that can sometimes have no obvious symptoms, so you can have it without knowing.

Had a new s*xual partner? Pregnant? Had s*x without a condom? Or simply haven't had an STI check in a while?

🧪 Get tested.
💊 Get treated.
🛡️ Use protection.

Bring back the flip phones. Bring back the butterfly clips. Hell, bring back MSN Messenger.

Just don't bring back syphilis.

28/08/2026

💜 Cake & Conversation 🌈

Today we marked Wear It Purple Day with two things we can always get behind: a good chat and an excellent excuse for cake. 🍰

It’s also an important reminder about creating safe, supportive and inclusive spaces where LGBTQIA+ young people feel seen, valued and free to be themselves.

Sometimes showing support is a big action. Sometimes it’s speaking up. Sometimes it’s simply making sure someone knows they have a seat at the table.

And today, that table happened to have cake on it. 💜

27/08/2026

‘A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.’

📚📚This week is Book Week 📚📚
🍫🍭And Kid’s ward is celebrating in a very sweet way. 🍭🍫

All your favourite golden ticket winners paid a visit to the paediatric ward yesterday! From Violet and Augustus to the golden ticket, the entire whole team bought smiles to our patients.

📚The team very much whangdoodled, hornswogglered, and snozzwangered this book week 📚

Because as W***y Wonka said, “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

26/08/2026

For some North West mums managing diabetes during pregnancy, better access to care is about to be just a tap away. 📱🧡

Thanks to a generous donation from Telstra, 20 women across the North West who may otherwise face barriers to accessing technology will be able to stay connected to vital maternity care throughout their pregnancy.

Telstra has donated 20 mobile phones, each with a prepaid SIM and 12 months of connectivity, to support women experiencing diabetes during pregnancy to use Continuous Glucose Monitoring technology.

The technology allows women to monitor their glucose levels in real time and share those readings directly with their healthcare team. Helping our maternity team spot concerns earlier, provide advice sooner and tailor care to each mum and baby.

And when you live hundreds of kilometres from specialist care, that connection matters.

As our Director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr Natalie Kiesey-Calding puts it: every woman deserves access to the best possible maternity care, regardless of where she lives or whether she owns a smartphone.

A pretty powerful outcome from something most of us use to check the weather, scroll Facebook and ignore calls from unknown numbers. 📱😉

A huge thank you to Telstra for helping us remove one more barrier to care for North West families. 💛

25/08/2026

You know her. You love her. She’s a local girl. 🎤✨

And now, she’s our new Chief Finance Officer.

We’re very excited to announce Jessie as North West HHS's new CFO. 👏

Jessie has called Mount Isa home for more than 30 years and has been part of the North West HHS team since 2015, working her way from Finance Officer to Management Accountant, Director of Finance and now Chief Finance Officer.

Her connection to Mount Isa Hospital goes back even further; think visiting Mum’s desk at the hospital and after-school work in Radiology. Safe to say, she knows the place. 🤠

Jessie brings more than a decade of experience with our Health Service, plenty of local knowledge and a genuine passion for making sure our teams have the resources they need to deliver great care across the North West.

Congratulations, Jessie! 🎉
We look forward to discussing several key investment priorities at your earliest convenience, including office snacks, a ping-pong table and a coffee machine for the socials office. 😇

17/08/2026

🌟Meet Amy, our Graduate Clinical Coder! 🌟

Mount Isa has been home since the 90's, when Amy's family relocated after her father joined the Queensland Police Service. More than 30 years later, she's now raising her own family here and continues to build a career dedicated to the North West community.

For 26 years, Amy worked as a Registered Nurse across Maternity, Paediatrics and Community Child Health.

"I loved nursing and loved serving my community," Amy says. "But it was time for a change and time to see how else I could be of value to the health service without the scrubs."

That career change led her into the world of Clinical Coding. Amy completed a Diploma of Clinical Coding through HIMAA in 2024 before joining the Queensland Health State Clinical Coding Accelerated Graduate Training Program, which she has recently completed.

So... what exactly does a Clinical Coder do?

"Basically, we read medical records and translate a patient's journey from admission to discharge into a series of clinical codes," Amy explains.

Those codes do much more than record information. They help inform healthcare funding, planning and statistics, ensuring health services can continue delivering the care communities need.

"I don't see coding as just reading patient records and assigning codes," she says. "I see a patient who has come to us needing help. I see health professionals doing their absolute best to care for them. It's now my responsibility to ensure that patient's journey has been accurately captured."

While Clinical Coders often work quietly behind the scenes, Amy says their work plays an important role in shaping the future of healthcare.

"Coders sit quietly providing the crucial data that assists in shaping decisions about healthcare in our country. I see this as a privilege and I'm grateful to our health service for supporting me on this new career path."

When she's not at work, Amy dreams of travelling Australia in a van with her family, spending her days swimming at the beach, playing golf, running, hiking and discovering country pubs along the way.

Thanks for everything you do, Amy. Your journey is a wonderful reminder that caring for our community takes many forms, both on the frontline and behind the scenes.

17/08/2026

💐💛Daffodil Day is this Thursday💛💐
The Cancer care unit will be selling gorgeous bunches of Daffodils for the occasion.
Thank you to Blissimo for kindly supplying the beautiful flowers.

💐The bunches will be $12 (cash only) with all donations going to Cancer Council 💐

14/08/2026

Friday 7th of August was the National Day of Recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Indigenous Hospital Liaison Officers. Here in Mt Isa, this comes right on rodeo time, and we want to celebrate our teams the way they deserve!

This week, throughout the North West, we have celebrated our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. Here in our Hospital and Health Service, these dedicated professionals help community members navigate healthcare systems, access support services and receive culturally safe care. They are truly an essential part of the hospital and health service.

This year’s theme, Many Paths, Many Ways, celebrates the many ways that bring people into the profession and the ways they contribute throughout their careers. Nationally, and right here locally, we have seen this beautifully reflected. We have a number of staff who commenced their careers with us working in the kitchen, as wardies or as administration officers, who then transitioned into these crucial roles.

To cut this year’s cake was Rhonda Tim, an Advanced Health Worker with NWHHS since 2008, who represents the dedication of this entire team. Across the region, in our facilities, we are holding morning teas for staff.

We thank all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers, Health Practitioners and Indigenous Hospital Liaison Officers for their dedication, advocacy and commitment to supporting healthier futures for our communities.
🖤💛 ❤️ 🩵 💚

13/08/2026

Today, we are celebrating Cancer Nurses Day and are recognising the incredible work this team does to ensure specialised care here in Mt Isa.

This year’s theme, Strong, Skilled and Specialised, encompasses the attention and dedication this team provides. Always with a smiling face and a friendly greeting, our Cancer care nurses work hard to ensure their patients receive comforting care.

From providing telehealth support to care planning or a sweet treat and a sandwich the team is committed to their contribution to the care of patients.

🩷 💐 Happy International Cancer Nurses Day at NWHHS! 💐 🩷