Western Health a finalist

Western Health is a finalist in the Victorian Employer of the Year awards for its Sunshine training and education centres.

The awards showcase innovation and excellence by employers in providing nationally recognised training to their workforce.

State government documents reveal more than 40 per cent of Western Health’s 6500 staff have been helped to gain formal qualifications over the past four years.

“It’s one of two health services in Victoria that’s a registered training organisation,” the documents state.

“[Western Health’s] employees have continuous access to learning opportunities … on average, 200 hours of training are delivered each month to support on-the-job training, and it caters for one of the most multicultural areas of Melbourne.”

Western Health workforce training manager Annette de Jager said being a finalist recognised the commitment to offering staff high standards of training.

“Training enables our people to develop and progress in their career,” Ms de Jager said.

Western Health, which was named the 2014 Premier’s Health Service of the Year, comes up against McDonald’s and Air Services Australia for the top gong when winners are announced during National Skills Week on August 28.