1 August 2016
Access Community Health and Rural Women New Zealand award two $3000 health scholarships
For the first time in the history of the Access Community Health and Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) scholarship there
are two recipients. The standard of applications was very high and the review panel could not separate the top two
applicants. Felicity Lallier from Horowhenua and Jo Tiller from Greymouth will each receive a $3,000 fund to help
support their health-related post graduate studies.
For Jo Tiller, caring is very much in the genes. Her father was a consultant physician and her mother worked as a
nursing sister, exposing Jo to the world of health care from an early age. Jo plays a crucial role at Greymouth hospital
where, having specialised in post anaesthesia care and recovery, she will be consolidating all her skills through her
Post Graduate Diploma in Health Sciences - Rural Nursing.
“I'm very passionate about my nursing and consider it a gift to be able to help people recover. We help treat people
from across the entire West Coast. Many people in our rural community have seasonal and outdoor livelihoods and often
want their care and treatments catered around that. I am really inspired by the patient’s motivation and commitment to
their role in the community.”
Felicity Lallier entered the health profession as a paramedic fairly late in life. Originally from New Zealand, she
trained in the United States where she saw many differences in the types of emergencies compared with her home in
Horowhenua. “There were a lot a big trauma situations whereas, here with such a large population of older people, we see
a lot of falls and wound care,” she says. “In the United States we had access to closer facilities unlike here where
patients can be 45-60 minutes away from emergency care.”
Felicity has a Paramedic Bachelor’s degree from Whitireia and is now studying for a Post Graduate Diploma in Health
Science Paramedicine while working part time as an Intensive Care Paramedic with St John. Felicity's qualification and
training will mean she will be able to provide an invaluable and extensive service to the rural community, consolidating
a number of clinical skills including being able to use antibiotics and treating patients on the spot.
Access Community Health Chief Executive, Simon Lipscombe, says both women reflect the importance of the services
provided, by helping support people to remain independent in their communities and homes. “We were impressed by the
passion they both showed for their rural areas and their desire to continue their studies. We recognised the great
benefits this would bring to the rural communities they serve.”
To ensure each recipient would receive $3000, Access Community Health and RWNZ contributed extra funds towards this
year's scholarship. RWNZ’s Health Portfolio spokesperson Margaret Pittaway says “both women were outstanding in their
commitment to their profession and very focused on using post-graduate health studies to improve care and treatment of
patients in the rural community.”
ends