From the laundry to the front office

Adam Jochim, Residential Care & Services Manager at BaptistCare Peninsula View residential aged care community, is not usually short of words. However, when asked to describe the impact of office manager Suzanne Lewry, he takes a moment.

“Suzanne is just wonderful,” he says eventually. “She is open, understanding and a pillar of support.

“The other thing is that she is so incredibly fast to get her head around any changes to procedure, computer programs or staff. We are lucky to have her.”

Suzanne’s connection with Peninsula View goes back to a time before it was a BaptistCare community. She started working at the facility in 2008, and stayed on when BaptistCare took over in 2013.

“My background had been in admin but I was out of the workforce until the youngest of my three kids commenced school,” Suzanne remembers.

“I wanted a job, and a position was going here as a casual cleaner. I then became a laundry assistant for a couple of years, moved into lifestyle team then worked as Laundry Manager, and then when an opportunity came to return to administration, I jumped at that.

“As office manager I oversee all admin tasks including rostering, recruitment, looking after new starters and overseeing visiting.

“I think it’s important to know what everyone has to do in their role, and what the challenges are. Having worked in so many different roles I know what it’s like for my colleagues, and that understanding really helps.”

Suzanne was born and raised in the area and loves working with the older people of the Peninsula. When she is away from work she is relishing her new role as a grandmother to one grandchild (with another on the way soon).

“I feel a strong attachment to all of our residents. Their faces light up when they see you.

“I look around Peninsula View and see my colleagues making an important difference in people’s lives. It makes me proud to be working with BaptistCare.”