* Cultural Warning
People of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent should be aware that the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service website may contain images and names of people who are deceased or images of places that could cause sorrow.
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VAHS AGM 2012
The VAHS annual general meeting will be held on 8th May 2012.
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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Full-time positions are currently availabe for:
- Dental Assistant
- Home Visiting Nurse
- Family Partnership Worker
Please refer to the employment section of this site for more information.
DENTAL
HISTORY
The VAHS Oral Health & Dental Unit was established in June 1974 by Dr. Bill Roberts.
The Oral Health Unit here at VAHS has been very fortunate to retrain a number of staff for many years.
In particular:
- Dr Chris Fredericks has been with the VAHS for 29 years. In July 2010 it will be he's 30 years of service.
- Dr Alex Thomas has been with the VAHS for 16 years. In June 2010 it will be 17 years of service
- Christine Ingram the Oral Health Manager will be 20 years of service in February 2010.
- Dr Rishi Siriwardane had also been with VAHS for 10 years prior to leaving in 2002.
Dr Fredericks - 2008
Reflecting upon 27 Years of Service at VAHS
My name is Chris Fredericks and I am employed as a Dentist at VAHS. I joined the Health Service in 1980 six years after its inception at 229 Gertrude st in Fitzroy. The Dental service occupied the right side of the building and had only one surgery. I replaced Dr. Bill Roberts and did work in Fitzroy and around country areas of Victoria and New South Wales. From there we moved to 136 Gertude St. where we continued to service both Melbourne and country areas.
I was involved in planning mobile routes and was also instrumental in setting up the surgeries at 136 Gertrude St. In the early days I built a mobile van equipped with mobile surgery equipment. We serviced many areas like Dandenong and Healsville. We unloaded the euipment into a room and we were operational. at that time we had the big 22ft. mobile caravan which serviced country areas. Once the van was scrapped i was asked to, and built a mobile surgery from scratch with a Mazda T3000 22 seated bus. This bus serviced many country areas. Later i was asked to upgrade the old caravan which again I did from scratch which meant that I had to get the caravan built and direct the equipment of it with a Dental surgery. This caravan is currently in storage.
In my former country I wished to work with the Aboriginal people of Malaysia but was not given the opportunity so I joined the Health Service to fulfill that dream. In time I found that there was lots of work to be done and never looked back in spite of all the difficulties and ups and downs that we are challenged with daily. With regard to changes there have been only small changes in dental health and we are still doing a lot of patch up dentistry. I am very well aware that major changes can only occur when the body and spirit are totally healed. i must say that Dr. Bill Roberts has been my main inspiration at the health service in the early days. He is a dedicated and selfless person. I like a low profile quiet life minding my own business and hence have not been very active in recent years. My dental message to all "Do everything in moderation" but always remember to brush and floss and visit the Dentist regularly.
Video Feature
Dr. Bill Roberts
A brief video excerpt of Dr Bill Roberts discussing the history of the dental service at VAHS.
Excerpt taken from Commemorating VAHS.