Mount Magnet proves to be positively attractive for longtime health centre staff

With nearly 20 years of combined service between them, Gloria Masekane and Mark Robinson are the heart and soul of Mount Magnet Health Centre.

Gloria, who is Director of Nursing and Mark, a Clinical Nurse Specialist, have become permanent fixtures in the remote Midwest town of about 450 people.

“Working in Mount Magnet, you know everybody,” Gloria said.

“You don’t have patients, you have community members – neighbours, aunties, uncles, and so on. What’s kept me here is the fulfilling work and the community, that feeling of belonging.”

Originally from South Africa, Gloria has worked at Mount Magnet for the past 10 years and also oversees teams at Cue Health Centre, Sandstone Nursing Post and Yalgoo Nursing Post.

She completed her nursing and midwifery studies in South Africa, where she worked mostly in community health centres with a focus on emergency nursing.

This included a 17-year stint in the township of Alexandra, during which Gloria completed an Honours Degree in Industrial Psychology.

“At that point I decided I wanted to do a master’s degree overseas – preferably in Australia – and venture more into organisational development. I wanted to end up as a consultant,” she said.

“I started job searching, I got my Western Australian nursing registration, and in April 2005, I landed a job at Merredin Hospital as a Registered Nurse.”

Gloria transferred to Bruce Rock Memorial Health Service seven months later and stayed until 2015, serving in various roles including Clinical Nurse and Aged Care Coordinator.

“I enjoyed my time at Bruce Rock and ended up forgetting the reason I came to Australia,” she said.

“I decided to go back into community nursing and so I applied and ended up in Mount Magnet.”

Hailing from the UK, Mark completed his training in Leeds where he worked for several years in hospital wards including general, gynaecology, paediatric, and emergency.

He moved to New Zealand in 2008 and worked in emergency until 2014, when he decided to check out “that big island to the west”.

After three years of travelling and working around Australia, Mark found himself in Mount Magnet.

“I asked myself the question, ‘what’s it like living and working out here in this hot, dry and dusty red environment?’” he said.

“Eight plus years later I’m still finding the answer. I’m attracted by the variety of work and skill sets that working here requires – it utilises all my nursing skills.”

For Mark, one of the best things about living and working in a remote community is the down-to-earth locals.

“What you see in someone is what you get, and you only get back what you give,” he said.

“I’m struck and moved by the trust and faith that people have in Gloria and me.

“Maybe it’s to do with the fact that we’ve stayed for so long and know our people so well. It makes it that much easier to be a team and play to each other’s strengths.”

“It’s a small team,” Gloria added, “but the morale is always high.”

Both plan to stay in Mount Magnet until they retire.

“I’ve looked and looked and, frankly, I don’t think I can beat what I have here in terms of team, community and job satisfaction,” Mark said.