Western NSW health chief Scott McLachlan has bid farewell to the region he led through its worst COVID-19 outbreak.
A health district chief is not a face the public is normally overly familiar with — it is a position that many may not have known even existed before the pandemic.
But when the Delta variant of COVID-19 began to hit parts of western and central western NSW in August, sending thousands of people into lockdown, Scott McLachlan instantly became a vital face and voice to communities across the region.
"The health system around the country, around the world has gone through the huge shell shock of trying to respond and figuring out how to deal with a COVID-19," he said.
With the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) ranking as one of the largest local health districts in New South Wales – covering an area almost the size of Britain, and servicing 276,000 people, along with three major rural referral hospitals at Orange, Dubbo, and Bathurst – it was never going to be an easy feat.
While Mr McLachlan's rise to one of the most important points of information for those being impacted across the district happened in a matter of days, COVID-19 would stick around for a little while longer.
Over 1,600 positive COVID-19 infections and 13 deaths were recorded throughout the months-long outbreak as concerns grew for vulnerable Indigenous communities.
Recognising people behind the numbers
Case numbers and exposure sites remained a central focus at the daily COVID-19 press conferences, but getting down to the personal stories was also an important point for Mr McLachlan during the region's longest lockdown.
"In a lot of cases, that was really intimidating for those people, and trying to manage the information around how communities will react in certain circumstances was crucial."
The knowledge of what anxieties people were most affected by, and how to respond to them, would become a key focus of guiding the release of COVID-19 information.
An even bigger part of that was keeping across what people on the ground were thinking and saying.
"Whether it's out at Bourke, Walgett, or Wilcannia, or right on the doorstep in Wellington and Narromine, everyone was recording cases," he said.
Outbreak not without silver linings
While the outbreak devastated lives, families, and businesses as it tore through the region, Mr McLachlan said recognising the little good that did come out of the tumultuous period should not be overlooked.
And while COVID-19 cases will continue to rise and fall as western NSW, and the world, continues to live with the virus, the impact of the efforts of the health district and the ADF to get the community vaccinated will remain.
That includes some of the most vulnerable to the virus.
As of last month, 77.6 per cent of Indigenous people aged 16 years and older had received a first dose of vaccine and 67.1 per cent had received two doses in the WNSWLHD.
The LHD is aiming to hit at least 94 per cent vaccination by the end of November.
Mr McLachlan earlier this month encouraged people to continue getting vaccinated in order to get all LGAs in the district to 80 per cent double dosed, to keep everyone safe.
"If you look around other parts of the state, the New England region just on our doorstep, with Moree having huge numbers of cases every day, compared to ours," he said.
The Western Local Health District has appointed the current head of operations Mark Spittal to act in the role of CEO while a permanent chief is recruited.
