Vinny was a well-respected, hardworking young man, sincere and loyal. He was efficient and diligent with a great work ethic. He will be missed by the team at the Hospital and the entire MQ Health community.

His colleagues at MUH want to express their sadness but practically show support at a fundraising event on Wednesday 13 April at the Hospital, which will include a cake stand (9.30am to 10.30am), BBQ lunch (12pm to 1.30pm) and raffle (at the BBQ). All are welcome and all proceeds will go to the family.

For more information please email events@muh.org.au or donate here.

The Grateful Patient Program was created in 2019 to give patients and their families a way to say thank you for the care they have received at Macquarie University Hospital or MQ Health Clinics.

MQ Health Chief Operating Officer Dr Welly Firmanto says that the assistance provided by the program ranged from tests not covered by a patient’s health fund to entire operations.

“Clinicians identify and recommend that patients request funding from the program when costs are a challenge, and we are usually able to help about three to four patients every year, using donations from former patients,” he said.

“All MQ Health clinicians and staff can have a role in helping to promote the program by letting patients know of its existence. MQ Health sits in a unique position in the Australian healthcare landscape. As a not-for-profit, academically-driven healthcare organisation, charity is very much part of our mission. But without the generosity of our donors, the Grateful Patient Program would not be able to exist.”

Britt was the first patient to benefit from a Grateful Patient grant. She had spent two years trying to get to the bottom of why her left leg had become swollen after an overseas flight. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and a tumour had been ruled out early on, but her entire leg remained swollen, and it was growing progressively worse.

“My GP had vaguely mentioned it might be lymphoedema,” Britt said. “My leg was still swollen, but no-one found anything; everyone stopped looking and no-one guided me. A year later, I developed cellulitis, which can be fatal.”

After hearing about MQ Health’s specialist Lymphoedema Clinic and reading about other patients’ experiences on a Facebook support group, Britt began to wonder if she had May-Thurner syndrome, a rare problem that is often triggered by flying and can increase the risk of DVT in the left leg.

Macquarie vascular surgeon Dr Daniel Nguyen ordered an MRI, then an intravenous ultrasound – a costly test that she would have struggled to afford without a grant from the Grateful Patient Program.

“Dr Nguyen found I had May-Thurner syndrome, but all the other tests had missed it,” she said. “If it’s not treated, it gets worse.

“I’d been a walking timebomb for the past two and a half years – I could have dropped dead just getting on a plane. I wasn’t aware these grants were available, but Dr Nguyen applied on my behalf, and I’m very grateful that this option was there. I’d already spent close to $20,000 on surgery, pumps, specialists’ appointments, tests and special stockings. Having gone through two years of haemorrhaging money, the grant alleviated that pressure toward the end of last year and allowed me to put the money I’d saved towards inserting a stent to help treat the problem.”

Coffs Harbour resident Alison recently made a donation of $5,000 to the program following surgery to remove a cyst from her lower back.

“I’ve always led a healthy, active life, but I was at the stage where I needed a walking frame and could barely make it down the hall,” she said. “I couldn’t even lie down without pain. We live in Coffs Harbour, and because of COVID-19, I had to have a teleconference with the specialist, Dr Shinuo Liu. I had my doubts about telehealth, because I wouldn’t be seeing him in person, but he had really done his research. He knew so much about me!

“I was very impressed with the hospital and the staff when I had my surgery. Everything was arranged when I got there, and the staff were so welcoming. Every nurse who came to my room introduced herself to me and told me what she’d be doing. I saw Dr Liu every single day I was there, and his assistant sometimes twice a day. I’ve never in my life seen that in a hospital, and I worked as a nurses’ aide for seven years.

“It was a long, complicated operation, but the change was like someone switching the light on. The next day, I could already walk down the hall and I felt I was one of the very, very lucky people in the world. We’re not super wealthy, but when I saw you could donate money to the hospital, I thought that’s what I’d do, so I donated $5,000.”

The Grateful Patient Program welcomes donations not just from patients: everyone can contribute.

If you would like to support this life-changing project, please contact the Philanthropy Team on +61 (2) 9850 1386 (Monday to Friday) or by email. 

1. The coolest bit of equipment you use in your work
This is the gamma knife unit, which enables precision small field radiotherapy to be delivered incredibly accurately to targets within the brain and base of skull. It delivers a precise dose of radiation by manipulating very tiny radioactive cobalt sources. It is used for both benign and malignant tumours as well as patients’ Arterial Venous Malformations and essential tremor.

2. Something you feel proud of
In 2020, we treated more than 100 patients on the gamma knife unit and we are on track this year to increase that number again.

3. Something you’d like staff to know
The Gamma knife source exchange, which took place last month, will mean that treatment times for patients are halved.

The radioactive sources in the Gamma Knife unit decay over time, meaning that it takes longer to deliver the same amount of radiotherapy as time goes on. Generally the sources are replaced every five years, so now that the new sources are in, the treatment times for patients will basically halve. A typical treatment for vestibular schwannoma will likely take less than half an hour with the new sources and a multi-metastases treatment may only take an hour or so, instead of three to five hours.

4. What you need to do your best work
A great team.  I am so lucky to have that at Genesis Care, the  oncology unit at Macquarie. Our staff are fantastic and do their utmost to ensure our patients get the best care and a comfortable experience at MUH.

5. A personal quality you value in others
Integrity. I try to surround myself with honest and ethical people as I think that is one of the most important things to ensure patients are getting the best outcomes.

6. Something you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you
Dr Lucy Morgan’s letter to the Sydney Morning Herald regarding the impact of COVID-19 on younger patients and their families. I found her description of children requiring hospitalisation in paediatric wards – so that there was someone to care for them while their parents were battling COVID – profoundly disturbing as a parent.

7. The first person you go to for advice
My husband, because he’s not afraid to tell me what I don’t want to hear!

8. A favourite photo from your camera roll
This is our new puppy, Fudge.

9. I’m happiest when…
I’m reading, writing or baking.

10. What you like about where you live
We are surrounded by trees and birds on the North Shore. It’s a very peaceful place to live and the locals are welcoming and down-to-earth.

Macquarie University Hospital has been accepting urgent (non-COVID) public surgical patients under agreements with Local Health Districts, as public hospitals increasingly focus on COVID-19 patients. To date, these have largely been general and cardiac surgical patients.

Our hospital stands ready to take more patients in the coming weeks as state-wide hospitalisations increase, with the health system projected to reach its peak activity in mid-October.

The Hospital has also been holding a ward on standby to assist with non-COVID patients requiring ongoing nursing and medical care.

Both the Hospital and the University are also providing staffing assistance at NSW Health vaccination hubs and hospitals in the form of nurses and final year medical students.

Twenty MUH nursing staff have been seconded for the past two months to support the vaccination rollout. This is provided in addition to the activity of our own vaccination clinic at the MQ Health General Practice, servicing Medicare eligible staff, students, and the general public.

Twenty-one final-year MD students have begun six-week placements as part of NSW Health’s Assistants in Medicine program. The students are based in Northern Sydney Local Health District, gaining vital experience in a busy public hospital environment.

MQ Health is incredibly proud of its staff, students, doctors and volunteers for their resilience, hard work and rapid pivoting to support the whole of health system effort in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

As announced to staff by the Vice-Chancellor on Thursday 10 December, the New South Wales Government is currently considering a proposal to build the $479 million new Ryde Hospital at Macquarie University.

Co-locating the public hospital with our own Macquarie University Hospital would bring multiple potential benefits to both patients and the local community – in accordance with our purpose as a University of service and engagement – while delivering a number of benefits to Macquarie students and staff.

The new Hospital would be wholly publicly owned and operated by the Northern Sydney Local Health District, with construction of the hospital funded by the NSW Government.

With the Government intent on building a “smart” community hospital that delivers cutting-edge patient-focused healthcare, Macquarie is well placed to bring innovative solutions to both the design and ongoing operation of the hospital.

The proposed location would create strong teaching and research links between the University and the Northern Sydney Local Health District, giving our medical and health professions students a technologically-advanced and close-by teaching environment, and creating strong opportunities for educational partnerships across the University.

The colocation would also allow the Hospital and the University to collaborate on medical and health services research, as well as clinical trials, in the University’s areas of research strength such as motor neurone disease (MND), dementia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, hearing, and health systems.

^{The Minister and Member for Ryde met with some of the University’s research staff, whose work could help shape best-practice clinical care at the proposed hospital.}

The Vice-Chancellor says the proposal is a major opportunity for Macquarie.

“Co-location is key to the evolving future of healthcare systems,” he says. “My hope is that this will allow us to engage with public sector healthcare as we work to build a sustainable university for the future.”

The proposal is among several options currently being considered by NSW Health for the future of Ryde Hospital. Further consultation with hospital staff, the local community and the University is expected over coming months.

Over the past decade, the hospital has achieved many medical and surgical firsts, pioneering new surgical techniques and healthcare delivery underpinned by cutting edge academic research.

MEDICAL FIRSTS AND KEY AREAS OF SPECIALITY

(1) The Da Vinci Robotic Surgery Program: MUH has the most extensive Robotic Surgery Program in the country.

(2) Osseointegration Surgery: In 2018, MUH surgeons performed a world-first smart limb procedure for a quadruple amputee, using a pioneering procedure that gave the patient two new mind-controlled limbs. Orthopaedic Surgeon MUH Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis, is the lead surgeon with the program, and discusses the surgery here. This surgery and its life-changing benefits was the reason Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, visited the Hospital in 2015. A video of his visit is below.

(3) Cutting edge in heart surgery: MUH was the first private hospital in New South Wales to conduct Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, or TAVI, and the first in the southern hemisphere to offer a full TAVI program to support patients undergoing the procedure.

(4) Neurosurgery: The Macquarie University Neurosurgery Unit is one of the largest academic neurosurgery groups in Australia. It includes nine neurosurgeons and a dedicated neurosurgery research laboratory. The unit has subspecialty interests in vascular neurosurgery, spinal surgery, tumour surgery, and radiosurgery.

LINKING ACADEMIA DIRECTLY TO HEALTHCARE

MUH is part of MQ Health – the University’s academic health sciences centre where educational courses are intricately linked with clinical practice. Two of the University’s premier degrees, the Doctor of Physiotherapy and the innovative Macquarie MD use the hospital for clinical teaching.

The Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Professor Patrick McNeil is proud of the learning environment at MUH as it provides real-world training and exposure to practitioners, who are often also teaching the various courses – an innovative model for a hospital.

“There’s no other university that runs its own health service on campus,” Patrick explains.

“The Medical School classes are in the building right next to the hospital where the clinics are located. The lecturers are doctors who practice in the clinics or the hospital, or who are doing research in the research labs on the floor above the education spaces.

“We are also preparing our students for the future of remote health (telemedicine) and COVID-19 has accelerated need for this.”

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor S Bruce Dowton shares his warmest congratulations to those involved in the development of the Macquarie University Hospital, and highlights some key achievements over the past 10 years in a video message below.

“On the ten-year anniversary of Macquarie University Hospital, it is a time to reflect.

At the beginning of this journey, we set ourselves an immense challenge – to create a health setting unique in Australia but well-established as a model of excellence overseas.

High-quality hospital care integrated with advanced training and research saw the birth of Australia’s first non-profit, fully integrated private hospital on a university campus.

Since we opened our doors in 2010, we have worked steadily to achieve many milestones along the way.

Introducing new techniques to Australia, performing world-first procedures, investing in state-of-the art technologies, building streamlined clinics, participating in important international trials and bringing the best medical professionals to work with us – these have all laid the strong foundations of our first decade.

Today, we have a well-honed strategy centred around seven clinical areas. Each of these key areas responds to community needs by providing essential care, and leads health care into the future through innovative practice that can treat rare, emerging and complex conditions.

Our culture of collaboration, within what is now MQ Health, has become entrenched in how doctors, researchers, trainees and all medical staff see our organisation and work together to solve problems to deliver excellence in healthcare.

Our record of surgical innovation and its benefits to patients is extensive, but some examples of our success are indicative of what we are all about – giving patients the best treatment available, taking on challenging and complex cases and, not only returning quality of life, but saving lives.

At Macquarie University Hospital, we performed the southern hemisphere’s first percutaneous repair of a tricuspid heart valve using MitraClip technology – a last resort for an otherwise fit and heathy man who had developed aortic disease at a young age.

A young woman who had to have her bladder removed, due to a high-grade carcinoma, underwent a minimally invasive procedure that fashioned a neo-bladder using her own small intestinal tissue – all done robotically inside the body.

Combined ophthalmology and ENT surgery endoscopically removed a large, rare orbital tumour located deep within the eye socket of a nine-year-old boy. Importantly, the challenging procedure successfully preserved his vision.

Twelve years on from being diagnosed with a benign skull-base meningioma, a patient at the height of her career is delighted that the Gamma Knife treatment she had at our Hospital has ‘stopped the tumour in its tracks’.

In an advanced surgical procedure, our orthopaedic surgeons utilised external fixation and percutaneous minimal-incision surgery to correct a foot deformity, followed by a total ankle replacement, in a complex case of long-term severe rheumatoid arthritis.

And a double above-knee amputee, also a young war veteran, who had bi-lateral transfemoral osseointegration surgery at Macquarie University Hospital in 2014, says the surgery changed his life.

Finally, primary care is now a fully-fledged service, helping students, staff and our local community access all areas of health – including aged care, preventative medicine, mental health and men’s health services.

There are dozens more of these types of examples, and it’s impossible to list them all here. Perhaps some of these examples are most impressive when they bring into place genuine team-based care and collaboration, in areas in which there is so much more opportunity. It is in this approach and one that emphasises ongoing relationships with patients and integrated care that the future lies.

And so I’d like to acknowledge all the staff and other professionals, including specialists and surgeons, who have been with us for many years. Thank you for your engagement at the frontiers of health and medical care in Australia – and globally. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve the excellence for which we have become known. In all of these achievements it is telling that, in my experience, patients remember us most when we understand them and care for them personally.

Many of our staff have been with us for 10 years and a special shout out to all of you, and many more of you who will stay with us for a long time. We hope that our culture can continue to develop as such, so we all feel like it is the best place to be, to develop both personally and professionally.

To our many partners, like MQ Health Neurology and MMI that have become part of MQ Health in the past 12 months, and to those who have clinics and services that help us provide a better service – your contribution has been an essential ingredient in  our journey.

Ten years on, and we can safely say that we’ve proven that our unique model is bearing fruit and, as we continue to invest and upgrade our outstanding facilities, has become sustainable in Australia.

In these recent challenging times, perhaps more so than most in the past, we’ve consolidated a position of future sustainability not only as part of Macquarie University but in the health system more broadly.

I look forward to shaping the next decade with you.”

Third-year medical student Po Hung Li (Will) is among 15 students playing a vital role in the coronavirus pandemic by volunteering at the WiSE COVID Testing Clinic which MQ Health is supporting.

In the video below, Will steps through the simulated testing and scanning being carried out at the clinic. For these students this is an exceptional career learning opportunity to be able to contribute on the frontline of a global health emergency.

In a lightning fast time, and in an encouraging show of cross-faculty collaboration, the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences rallied to supply and deliver to the Hospital’s door all the chemicals and consumables for pharmacists to start manufacturing their own hand sanitiser onsite.

“In one day we had the chemicals supplied and enough empty bottles collected by the hospital staff to allow us to start on the weekend with our trial stock, says Jane Stidworthy, Director of Pharmacy at the Hospital.

“It is heartening to see this support and be part of such a wonderful organisation.”

On World Refugee Day, 20 June, the Widening Participation Unit (WPU) hosted the Sweetest Memory High Tea at the Art Gallery of NSW to raise funds for Macquarie University’s Refugee Financial Need Grant. To date, WPU has raised $17,838 to support Macquarie University students from refugee backgrounds. If you missed out, it’s not too late to make a contribution. Find out more about The Sweetest Memory or purchase The Sweetest Memory Cookbook and other items from the Widening Participation store.

Macquarie University Honorary Fellow Robyn Wheldell (second from left) – co-director of MultiLit child literacy program – was the star of the show as Universities Australia launched the latest phase of their Uni Research Changes Lives campaign, which calls for greater investment in research.

Robyn features in the campaign alongside young MultiLit participant Matilda, who overcame her reading difficulties through the program.

Robyn, Matilda and her mother Alice were joined at the campaign launch in Canberra by MultiLit founder Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldell and Professor Sakkie Pretorius, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research).

Macquarie volcanologist Associate Professor Heather Handley recently took The Living Room’s Dr Chris Brown on a (very cold and rainy) tour of the Mt Schank volcano, for a segment on Australia’s little-known Newer Volcanics Province across south-eastern Australia.

Heather is currently researching the province, using the chemical patterns in volcanic crystals to investigate the magma plumbing systems of the volcanoes and to determine how fast magma rises to the surface of the Earth.

The episode can be viewed on the 10 Play website (the volcanoes segment commences at 22:20).

The Department of Marketing recently hosted the ANZMAC Mid-Year Doctoral Colloquium, with participation from academics, industry professionals and PhD candidates from across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Supported by the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy, the colloquium was open to doctoral students and attracted 54 participants. Candidates presented their research and received feedback and mentorship from senior researchers and industry professionals. The colloquium was very successful and garnered positive feedback from participants, who made note of its high-quality interactions, presentations and supportive environment.

AAO (Australian Astronomical Optics) has just celebrated its first birthday at Macquarie. And there was cake!

Located a little off the main campus at 105 Delhi Rd, North Ryde, AAO sits in the North Ryde tech precinct, doing very high-tech work indeed.

Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO)-Macquarie is a recognised world leader in the field of astronomical research instrumentation. AAO-MQ has significant expertise in developing innovative new technology for use in astronomical instruments; and in developing data systems for the storage and access of data from such instruments, as well as in utilising these instruments for scientific research.

Find out more about their exciting work here

Congratulations to Professor Martin Ng and our structural heart team who successfully completed the first percutaneous repair of tricuspid valve regurgitation in the Southern Hemisphere. Another first for Macquarie University Hospital.