General News
6 December, 2023
Always ready with a helping hand
It will come as no surprise that Robyn Lardner’s goal in life is to make a difference. The former citizen of the year in Dimboola and Horsham, and the recipient of Rotary's highest honour, the Avenues of Service, is certainly doing just that.
It will come as no surprise that Robyn Lardner’s goal in life is to make a difference.
The former citizen of the year in Dimboola and Horsham, and the recipient of Rotary's highest honour, the Avenues of Service, is certainly doing just that.
Implementing practical ways to make life better, especially for rural people, has been front and centre of the activities of Mrs Lardner and her husband, Des.
Supporting ways to improve men's and women's health, increasing knowledge about health care and supporting communities on many levels are just a fraction of her efforts over decades.
It was also important, Mrs Lardner said, to know when to stand down to allow someone else to take over and head things in another direction.
What next?
She plans to take time to draw breath as she closes one key door in her life: the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Mrs Lardner has ended her time with the RFDS Victorian board after 12 years - three more than the usual term of nine.
"There's a need to keep the organisation dynamic and for others to have the opportunity to participate," she said.
Back in 2011 it was suggested by Sonia Petering to then Victorian chair Murray Rogers AM that the board needed a female director with a background in health and with a regional outlook.
Robyn Lardner fitted that call perfectly.
RFDS then had 10 part-time staff and fundraising was a major role but Mr Rogers wanted to offer health services partnered with agencies that were not in competition with private providers.
Mrs Lardner has seen huge changes in the organisation since 2011.
"There's been so many absolute highlights," she said.
A Director First mentoring program is one of the new RFDS initiatives.
She's watched as people have developed skills useful in their own environment, several having later taken on positions on health- or education-related boards.
RFDS has also opened new chapters: dental services, non-emergency transport for medical patients, optical services, speech therapy, community transport, wellbeing assistance, services for rural women, education using a simulator and a "memory-lane" service in an ambulance-type vehicle that carries palliative care patients to a place of their choice for a final visit.
"This makes so much difference for people who are dying," Mrs Lardner said.
Another plus is that many of the services are in small rural towns.
"I've also had the privilege to interview three new replacement directors," she said.
"It's important to have the skills we need for the organisation always in transition."
When it came time to retire from the Royal Flying Doctor Service after 12 years on the board, Mrs Lardner chose Minyip - the town used for the first Flying Doctors television series almost 40 years ago - as the venue for her final event.
It was a 1920s soiree in the town's memorial hall which raised $12,445 for the organisation.
The Adelaide-born nurse had completed general nurse training, then midwifery, maternal and child health, and neo-natal intensive care, before deciding to find a country hospital where her skills could be best used.
She surprised her family of "workaholics with sound work ethics" by responding to a small advertisement to fill a senior role in the 12-bed Murtoa Hospital across the border in Victoria.
She was 26 at the time.
She was unaware that the state government was developing a blueprint to review the roles and suitablilty of services in small communities, which in some cases saw hospitals close.
In the late 1980s plans emerged for a new-look Dunmunkle Health Service and changed medical facilities at Minyip, Murtoa and Rupanyup.
Murtoa had a medical centre with community health at Minyip and Rupanyup had a nursing home.
Mrs Lardner, director of nursing with 25 staff, met opposition from the community.
People had a connection with their old set-up and the plan was not welcomed.
She remained in that role until 1994, when she was appointed as commissioning officer at Wimmera Base Hospital.
She had the health knowledge and the understanding of health 'spaces' and knew how to engage with staff.
After that her skills helped to revamp Kurrajong Lodge before she took on responsibility as commissioning officer at the hospital in Dimboola.
With a master's degree in health administration added to her other accomplishments, she applied for a job as a corporate secretary with Wimmera Mallee Water just as planning was under way for the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline project.
She resigned eventually to help family members through a difficult time and later worked with her pharmacist husband in the family business, which employed about 50 staff in several locations.
Mrs Lardner's community service is impressive.
She was the first female president of Horsham East Rotary Club and headed many projects, including fundraising for Ballarat's Rotary House.
She was also one of the driving forces behind a much-needed tribute at Horsham Cemetery, Leaves of Love, to commemorate the loss of children.
This project had the backing of public sentiment, raising $88,000 in three months.
The result was a Jodie Taberner-designed garden with a bronze tree created by Donal Molly Drum of Banyena.
She also led a five-week group agricultural exchange to Florida; was Leadership Wimmera chair for five years and encouraged many of her peers into leadership roles; co-ordinated Horsham's Rotary Art Show, an annual event held in Horsham Town Hall, for many years; and has organised an International Women's Day event for the past eight years by partnering with Horsham Rural City Council and Grampians Health.
Through Rotary, she went to Cambodia with the Tabitha Charity to build houses after she and her husband raised $15,000 to add to $74,500 collected by Wimmera clubs.
Also, Mrs Lardner and colleague Bronwyn Clark developed and implemented a communication and marketing plan to revitalise the Wimmera Health Care Group Foundation before its 21st anniversary celebration.
This included organising an inaugural Mastercook, increasing donor numbers and delivering more than $100,000 profit to the now Friends of the Foundation, established through then chair Don Johns.