Griffith may be a big change of scenery from Auckland and Sydney - but the passionate community and Italian cuisine have only strengthened Suchit Handa's desire to deliver top medical services to the local community.
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Mr Handa has been appointed the new general manager at Griffith Base Hospital, taking charge at a crucial time for the site as it navigates a major $250 million redevelopment.
But the New Zealander is coming into the role with dedication and years of experience - both in mental health and health service management.
Mr Handa was previously a mental health, drug and alcohol support worker in Auckland. But after two years working one on one with patients, helping them to fight their battles and easing them back into the community, he saw a way to create real change.
"Working closely with individual patients was amazing but I realised that to have wider impact and create societal change in healthcare, you have to have a great understanding of public health and all of those systems," Mr Handa said.
We're going to be working with the wider team to deliver the best patient care we can
- Suchit Handa, Griffith Base Hospital general manager
He swapped his career to health service management, a decision which saw him cross the Tasman Sea and set up in the NSW capital.
"I got offered a position in a grad program in south-west Sydney and one week later I was off to Australia with just one suitcase and no idea about where I was going to live," Mr Handa laughed.
"For the past eight years I have worked in nearly every job in nearly every facility in south-west Sydney, from small mental health services to being the director of corporate services at Fairfield Hospital."
But following a recommendation from a former colleague, Mr Handa has once again packed his bags and ventured west, this time to work as the general manager of Griffith Base Hospital.
The role will see him manage the delivery of medical services out of the hospital and guide the site through the redevelopment taking place over the next few years.
"It is definitely a very exciting time to be at the base," Mr Handa said.
"We've got a lot of fresh blood and new ideas coming in every day and we're going to be working with the wider team to deliver the best patient care we can."
The general manager said the biggest difference between Griffith and Sydney which he had noticed so far was how passionate the local community was about their hospital and the care it delivered.
He added that his biggest focuses going forward would be to get through the redevelopment without a hitch and to improve the level of care at the hospital.
"The redevelopment is bubbling away but there's also a various amount of workforce issues to resolve and developments to our model of care which are also big focuses," Mr Handa said.
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His history with as a support worker will also come into play as he looks to strengthen the hospital's relationship with community mental health services.
On a personal level, Mr Handa says he is loving life in Griffith - with the unique culture and quiet atmosphere proving big highlights.
"I absolutely love the food," he said. "We probably had the best gnocchi I ever had at Little Italy the other day."
"It's also just really quiet and one thing which I was surprised by was how little land there was for people to go out and live on."
"That's definitely a big similarity with Sydney which I wasn't expecting."
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