2016 BHAG AGM Nomination Form for Office Bearer
Bellinger Health Action Group Inc. 2015 AGM
The 2015 AGM was held on the 29th July 2015 at the Uniting Church meeting room Bellingen. All the positions on the Committee were filled with a new member joining us this year.
I would like to thank and extend a warm welcome to the members of the 2015/16 Committee:
Public Officer: Fenella Briscomb
President: Barbara Moore
Vice President: Pauline Murphy
Secretary: Fenella Briscomb
Treasurer: John Conway
Committee Members: Shirley Dunne, Charlotte Blesing and Marlene Howes.
Consultant VMO: Dr Cain English
Pauline Murphy stepped up to the Vice President’s position and she will continue her previous role as chief fundraiser. Marlene Howes joined us this year. Marlene has been one of our enthusiastic volunteer gardeners at the hospital for the past 12 months. (If you would like to join our gardening group please contact Barbara Moore)
Everyone on last year’s committee re-nominated for the same position and they were unanimously elected.
This past year culminated in celebration after celebration showcasing the many successes of our previous years of challenges and battles. We do however remain vigilant.
The Minutes and President’s report of the 2014 AGM may be viewed by clicking on these links:
BHAG 2015 AGM Presidents Report
Minutes of BHAG AGM 29 July 2015
On behalf of the 2014/15 committee I would like to say ‘Thank You’ to our amazing community for your on-going support. We continue to represent your voice at all levels of Government and at the senior level of management of the Mid North Coast Local Health District and locally at Bellingen Hospital.
Yours in ‘SOS Bellingen Hospital’,
Barbara Moore (President BHAG Inc.)
Bellinger Health Action Group Inc. 2014 AGM and New Website
The 2014 AGM was held on the 30th July 2014.
All the positions on the Committee were filled with the exception of the Vice President and this position remains unfilled. I welcome 2 new members onto the 2014/15 Committee – John Conway and Charlotte Blesing.
President: Barbara Moore
Public Officer: Fenella Briscomb
Secretary: Fenella Briscomb
Treasurer: John Conway
Committee Members: Shirley Dunne, Charlotte Blesing and Pauline Murphy.
Consultant VMO: Dr Cain English
If you are a current financial member of BHAG Inc. and you would like to nominate for the position of Vice President would you please contact Barbara Moore on 02 6655 1898 (leave a message on the answering machine) or 0427 551 898. The Vice President’s position is not onerous with the committee meeting 4 times a year with the occasional but rare extraordinary meeting called if an urgent matter arises.
If you are not a current financial member and would like to nominate for this position it is only $2.00 for lifetime membership. Please contact Barbara Moore to make the necessary arrangements.
We have a new website that is managed by one of our Committee members so that all current news items and activities of BHAG Inc. are reported promptly.
It may look similar however it is using a WordPress format and now has an additional ‘Link’ to the Volunteer Gardening Group website so that you can view the amazing works they do at Bellingen Hospital. Watch that site as we commence a new Landscaping Project – the ‘Patient Wellness Garden’. This project involves multiple Community Organisations such as Bellingen Lions and Rotary to name a couple.
The Minutes and Presidents report of the 2014 AGM are able to be viewed or printed on this new and updated website by clicking on the attachment below.
Presidents Report AGM 2013-2014 30th July 2014
Minutes of BHAG AGM 30 July 2014
On behalf of the 2014/15 committee I would like to say ‘Thank You’ to our amazing community for your on-going support. We continue to represent your voice at all levels of Government and at the senior level of management of the Mid North Coast Local Health District and locally at Bellingen Hospital.
Yours in “SOS Bellingen Hospital”
Barbara Moore
(President BHAG Inc.)
The official governance documents voted on at the recent Special General Meeting of BHAG Inc. on the 27th of February 2013 are now finalised & were lodged with the Dept. of Fair Trading by registered post on 22nd March 2013.For those who were unable to attend this meeting the Minutes are also listed on the website. Thank you to those who attended this meeting & for your contributions as we weaved our way through the detail of the Constitution.
Once we have received written advice from the Dept. of Fair Trading of the registration of our new constitution your BHAG committee will commence registering the Association as a Not for Profit Community Service Organisation with Self-Assessment of Taxation with the Australian Tax Office.
Our latest news highlights our current campaign & fundraising to re-roof the leaking roofs at Bellingen Hospital.
Our best regards,
Barbara Moore (President of BHAG Inc.) on behalf of the committee
9th April 20134
bhag-sgm-minutes-27-feb-2013-final-signed-20032013.pdf
7.00pm on the 27th February 2013 at Bellingen Uniting Church Hall
As a supporter of the Bellinger Health Action Group Inc. you are invited to attend a Special General Meeting to vote on a Special Resolution and a Motion.
AGENDA
1. Finalise registrations of financial membership
2. Welcome and overview of the meeting and special resolution and motion
3. Table the Special Resolution and motion and invite open discussions from the floor
(i) BHAG Inc. to adopt the 2009 Department of Fair Trading Constitution with changes –
Part 1 – Preliminary
1.1 OBJECTS
The objects for which the association is established shall be:-
(a) To reinstate appropriate levels of Maternity, surgical, emergency, acute care and x-ray services for the Bellingen community.
(b) To receive the commitment of relevant government bodies to continue to support Bellingen Hospital and appropriate health services.
(c) To continue and develop the process of consultation about future health care delivery in the local community
Part 2 – Membership
2. Membership generally
(4) An additional level of affiliation with the Association is available for non-financial persons – a Friend of the Association.
(a) A Friend of the Association will pay no application fee.
(b) A Friend of the Association will have no voting rights at Special General Meetings, Governance matters, or for appointments at AGM’s.
Part 5 – Miscellaneous
37. Funds – management
(3) Non-profit clause:
‘The assets and income of the organisation shall be applied solely in furtherance of its above-mentioned objects and no portion shall be distributed directly or indirectly to the members of the organisation except as bona fide compensation for services rendered or expenses incurred on behalf of the organisation.’
(4) Dissolution clause:
‘In the event of the organisation being dissolved, the amount that remains after such dissolution and the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities shall be transferred to another organisation with similar purposes which is not carried on for the profit or gain of its individual members.’
This has been an interesting, challenging & successful term for your BHAG committee.
During this term our Secretary Louise Gore sadly tendered her resignation in March and Gai Stern who has been the Public Officer of our association since its inception has offered her resignation effective as at tonight. On behalf of the committee I would like to extend my thanks & gratitude to Gai and Louise for the generosity of their time & effort during their active roles on the committee.
We were unable to fill the vacancy of President so I have chaired each meeting & taken on a pseudo Presidential role however Fenella Briscomb joined us to fill a casual vacancy position when Louise resigned. We have continued to meet monthly and a great deal has occurred & been achieved since the last AGM in June 2011.
I would also like to thank all those who volunteer in the background to directly assist the committee. In particular David Wallin who continues to maintain the electronic database of BHAG contacts & email’s newsletters & notices at a moment’s notice, Sebastian Syder who maintains the website, Greg McLagan from the Courier Sun who continues to support our activities, Solveig Larsen our resident photographer who captures those special moments as an historical record & Lynne Sanders-Braithwaite who established the save-bellingen-hospital Facebook page with 3678 members which provides another toolkit for communication between BHAG and the community..
Finally I would like to acknowledge and thank the current committee for the support, advice & encouragement they have given me. We work well together as a team sharing the work & in particular the role of Secretary over the past months where Rosemary Stephens, Shirley Dunne & Fenella Briscomb have all shared the role of minute secretary. Pauline Murphy has maintained her true calling in Fund Raising, David Lester as Treasurer who diligently manages the raised funds and Dr Trevor Cheney our medical officer maintaining an open communication link with relevant hospital matters.
The role of your BHAG committee has maintained its focus on the adopted objects of the association:
BHAG currently has a contact list of 1358 which is a little less than last year. Some people have moved out of the district, some have changed their email address & sadly some have passed away.
The committee has worked on a number of matters that continue to benefit the future of our public hospital & community health services. Even though it would appear that the earlier threats of closure and or loss of some essential services are behind us we are still maintaining our voice & ‘squeaky wheel nuisance’ regarding the re-instatement of full Maternity services which due to the lack of Midwives is non- functioning at the moment, expanded Theatre & X-Ray services, the replacement of leaking roofs, the ongoing concern the community has regarding donated equipment and the inappropriate use of Bed 18 in Hartley House to name a few. So where do I begin. Some highlights are:
(a) BHAG now has an ABN 63 011 027 145 effective 20th April 2012 & a TFN 935 675 069 issued 9th May 2012. With the issue of a TFN new issues arose re tax return liability. We consulted Emillie Reynolds our pro bono solicitor in August who has graciously advised us on these matters. An ABN enables us to apply for grants. It also provides a means where we can establish ourselves as a “Not for Profit Community Service Organisation” & “Self Assess” our income tax obligations.
(b) This advice led to further consultation with Emillie on the 12th September regarding the validity of the BHAG membership.
(c) We commenced discussions in June on up-dating our constitution to adopt the current 2009 Fair Trading constitution. This will provide an opportunity to include:
(d) To that end we commend the incoming committee contact all persons on the BHAG contact list & invite all interested persons to a Special General Meeting to be held in early December (an application form for formal membership will be attached)
(a) The new 2012 committee toured the hospital on the 16th Aug 2011 with Kath Boman (the then Acting EO/DON)
(b) The EO/DON position was finalised in January 2012 with Kath Boman permanently appointed to the position of EO/DON Bellingen & Macksville hospitals. BHAG had been watching that situation for a number of years with so many senior executive positions being held in an ‘acting role’. We could not be directly involved with this matter but our active gardening presence at the hospital gave hope to the staff that the community was still supporting them during that grey time.
(c) The committee commenced discussions on the opportunities to establish a Community Health Centre.
(a) We provided advice to the ‘Save the Coraki & District Campbell Hospital Committee’ on how they could force Chris Crawford their CE to reopen it after the roof was storm damaged & he closed it down. We believe it has now reopened as a rehabilitation centre serving Lismore Base Hospital.
(d) We spoke to a local business women’s group during a hospital fundraising evening at No. 2 Oak Street. The topic was an ‘Inspirational insight of the history of Bellingen hospital’.
(e) We have established a link with the “Department of Corrective Services rehabilitation program for low offenders” that provides supervised labour assistance for volunteer based project works.
2012
2013/14
Possible achievements during this period:
2015-20
Barbara Moore – Vice President BHAG Inc. 17th October 2012