I had the honour of attending the opening of the mosaic artwork at the Gawler Hospital on Sunday, 11 October 2015 in tribute to Courtney Dijksman.

Courtney was a much loved member of the Gawler Health Service’s nursing staff who tragically lost her life on her way home from work.

The Gawler Health Foundation was asked to assist in raising money to fund this memorial in tribute to Courtney.

The mission of the Gawler Health Foundation is to raise funds to make the Hospital and Health Service a better place. Normally this is done through the purchase of equipment which enhances patient care however, on this occasion the project was about the sense of community at our Hospital.

A hospital is of course a clinical place but it is the care from the staff members which contribute the personality to our Hospital. The nurses who worked with Courtney were naturally devastated to lose her but it is times of tragedy which bring people together.

The staff banded together and worked with the Foundation to raise the money to build the memorial showing that if a community comes together you can build something lasting and beautiful.

The mosaic certainly fulfils the Foundation’s mission of making the Gawler Health Service a better place. It is a demonstration of what can be achieved when people work together.

As chair of the Gawler Health Foundation, I thank everyone involved for their contribution to this project and look forward to continuing to work with you and the community to make the Gawler Health Service better.