Celebrating Int Women’s Day
A HEALING PRESENCE – CELEBRATING A NURSING HISTORY FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
This International Women’s Day, Bellarine Community Health celebrates 86 year old Verna McLennan, whose decades of dedication to nursing helped build the health infrastructure that the Portarlington and Bellarine communities rely on today.
When Verna McLennan first arrived in Portarlington, there were no doctors, and few health services for a community that desperately needed them. What there was, was Verna, a registered nurse who found herself answering knocks at her own door from neighbours in need, even in the final weeks of her first pregnancy.
Verna’s early nursing career was in the operating theatres of Geelong Hospital and taking on relieving work with the Bush Nursing service in Drysdale in the 1960s.
In the early 1970s, inspired by the successful establishment of the Queenscliff & District Community Health Centre in Point Lonsdale, Verna joined the original Committee of Management formed to bring a similar service to Portarlington. The Portarlington Community Health Centre was born around 1974, and Verna was there from the very beginning.
After years as a member of the Portarlington Ladies Auxiliary, which raised funds for the community health centre, Verna’s path into the health centre itself came about almost by chance. When the district nurse broke her arm, a phone call came asking if Verna could cover.
“The district nurse broke her arm, and they rang me up one day and said, could you come and do the round for the district nurse today? She didn’t come back to work for six weeks, so I worked for them for six weeks. Well, that was my actual anniversary date. They never took me off the books, but it was another couple of years before I actually applied for and got the position as Nursing Coordinator.”
Verna was appointed Nursing Coordinator at Portarlington Community Health Centre around 1982, a role she held until her retirement in 1997.
In those early years, the shortage of health services in Portarlington was stark. Verna recalls being one of the only medically trained people in the area:
“Because there were no doctors here, there were no services here of any sort. I was eight and a half months pregnant with my first child, and people were ringing me up and saying, can you come and see Mrs So-and-So down the road, because she’s got an ulcer on her leg. I’d go down and look. People just rang me up because I was one of the few people who was a nurse living in the area.”
As Nursing Coordinator, Verna’s responsibilities extended far beyond nursing. She coordinated services across both the Portarlington and Drysdale sites, managed student placements, and oversaw a volunteer program that at its peak included around 400 volunteers. She stepped into the role of social worker when needed and delivered health education talks to community groups across the region.
The district nursing service, she reflects, was a lifeline for the community’s most vulnerable:
“We had a lot of older people in the community who were quite frail, and it was terribly difficult to get into nursing homes back in those days, and there were a lot of tragic cases around people trying to cope at home. So, the district nurses were really critical.”
Verna’s community spirit extended well beyond healthcare. In the 1970s, she began selling donated books out of the Portarlington rotunda to raise funds for the local scout group. As donations grew, she worked with the Portarlington Ladies Auxiliary, of which she was a member, to move clothing from a private garage into the rotunda space, laying the foundations for what became the Portarlington Ladies Auxiliary Op Shop.
Throughout her career, Verna raised six children, three of whom followed her into nursing. Her daughter Beryl continues that tradition today, currently working for Bellarine Community Health.
Looking back, Verna is warmly appreciative of the teams she worked alongside:
“The staff were fantastic for a start. The doctors we had here were wonderful to work with. They were very invested in the idea of community health.”
At 86, Verna’s belief in community health remains as strong as ever. She is an outspoken advocate for greater investment in local services.
“Community health and all the things they do are fantastic. District nursing is a massive need, it keeps people out of hospital, out of nursing homes, keeps them in their own homes. You supply staff to educate, educate, educate. Put on all sorts of education programs, because that’s what community health should be.”
To learn more about Bellarine Community Health nursing services click HERE.
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