Indigo Interview: Health first approach for Harry

HARRY Thomas was born and raised in Canberra, lived for many years in Melbourne and with his wife Pamela moved to Beechworth 15 years ago. What do you do workwise? I work in several health-related roles. For over a decade I have been a board director of Beechworth Health Service and board chair for six years. I am a director/treasurer at Omeo District Health and co-chair of the steering group for the Statewide Consumer-led Research Program, a cancer research body involving people with a lived experience of cancer – consumers – and staff from five cancer control organisations. I also sit on the steering committees of four other medical research programs. What brought you to your role/career? I enrolled and was accepted into NSW Police Academy but had to be 18 years old to start. I found a fill-in job with the Department of Defence as a trainee systems programmer. There were only a few computers in Australia at the time. After a full career in IT, technical, sales and marketing then senior executive roles, I decided to give back to the community. What do you love about your work? I became involved in a project in Omaha Nebraska to build a “non-destructible” building to house banking computers and cash collection. But it is the thrill I get from seeing health care providing its workforce with the satisfaction of giving great outcomes to people, their families and friends. What do you do in the community? I am the current president of Beechworth Rotary where we share the ideals of service, friendship, diversity, integrity, and leadership. I am a strong advocate for the Rotary Youth Exchange where youngsters learn responsibility, not just international experience from rotary. Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing? To be able to provide better allied health care in the shire’s towns, rather than having to spend the best part of a day traveling to receive a 10-minute treatment. Difficulty in getting to a GP appointment is worrying for a lot of older residents. What would you do to solve change or improve that situation? Encourage the youth of Indigo Shire to study health related professions and come back to practice in their hometowns. A wonderful example of this is the La Trobe University course to develop the critical skills needed to excel in nursing, midwifery, and community care. Having a competitive medical practice may help the GP shortage. What do you see as one of the most important current world issues? Democracy is under attack by populist leaders and groups that reject pluralism and demand unchecked power to advance their own interests and that of their supporters. If the person you would most like to meet or knew, came to Indigo Shire or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why? I would have liked to have shown my mum the beautiful countryside we live in. She enjoyed singing and playing piano at aged care facilities, so it would have been great to share some of my work with her. What book are you reading? It is a long time since I read a novel. Most of my reading is papers required prior to board and subcommittee meetings. Often hundreds of pages for each meeting. Currently I am absorbed in specialist manuals to assist in the restoration of several classic Jaguar cars. Very therapeutic!

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