by Yvette Brand
People, connection to the community and quality care services enticed West Gippsland Healthcare Group interim chief executive officer Shannon Wight to make the position permanent.

Ms Wight, who was appointed in January as the healthcare group's interim ceo, was last week confirmed to lead the organisation in a permanent role.
She replaces long serving ceo Dan Weeks who retired at the end of last year.
Beginning her permanent role yesterday, Ms Wight said the people, community and care were all factors in her decision to apply for the position. Following a competitive recruitment process, her appointment was announced by the board last week.
Previously executive director of clinical operations at Eastern Health, Ms Wight was seconded to the interim position and from the outset said she was in the position to do a job, not just keep the seat warm during her tenure.
She said she had been impressed during her time at WGHG that care was value driven, describing it as a "high quality healthcare service" with "real respect and compassion."
Ms Wight has been involved in the merger of eight Gippsland health services which will see the new Gippsland Local Health Services Network (LHSN) "go live" from today.
"Our key plans across the region are incredible so there is a strong opportunity to meet the healthcare needs of the fastest growing area of Australia.
"I feel I can guide the right clinical services and how we attract the right workforce to deliver that care," she said.
Ms Wight said the new LHSN group members had spent time aligning their views on early priorities to deliver better health outcomes for Gippsland.
"These relationships have started to happen and they are a key to safe and quality care in our region. I am confident the community will see better health outcomes. I encourage the community to be on board, ask questions and look at what the reset looks like because I am confident they will see changes in the next 12 months," she said.
With a new West Gippsland Hospital the major community priority, Ms Wight said WGHG was committed to throwing everything at a funding submission, particularly with 2026 being an election year.
But, she stressed, the healthcare service must continue to work with government to ensure the current Landsborough Rd campus was safe to continue to provide care.
Even when funding was announced, she said the new hospital would be some years away so "how do we continue to be innovative and provide the care that's expected of us."
Ms Wight has set some clear priorities in her first tasks including the new strategic plan which is currently being developed - "we are engaging with the community and excited to bring that to life."
She also wants to see WGHG deliver on its statement of priorities and demonstrate to stakeholders that "we are boxing above our weight with what we can deliver within the current infrastructure constraints."
Thirdly, Ms Wight said partnering with the Gippsland LHSN to ensure safe and connected care came to life across the region was important.
Growing up in Traralgon, and with ongoing family ties in Gippsland, the secondment to WGHG was an opportunity to reconnect to rural health.
Ms Wight studied nursing at Geelong and her first years working were in regional New South Wales where she developed a passion for regional health services and their community connections.
While relishing in her leadership roles over recent years, Ms Wight has always welcomed the opportunity to be reminded of her medical roots, and during COVID, under direction of the state's chief health officer, joined many others in the profession to pull on the scrubs again.
"I am very proud and privileged to be a part of the nursing profession. It's incredible how small our profession is and the kinship and respect there," she said.
WGHG board chair Jo-Anne Moorfoot said Ms Wight had made an impressive start to her time at WGHG.
"She brings strong leadership, qualifications and experience to the role and we are excited to move forward as an organisation with her," she said.