Anne Maree Mugavin retires after 34 years

9 Jun 2016

9 June 2016

“I always wanted to be a nurse, from the time I was a little kid with the toy stethoscope around my neck,” she said.

Mrs Mugavin jokes that her career began practising bandaging on the family cat, before undertaking formal training at Melbourne’s Mercy Hospital. Meeting and marrying her husband brought her to Warrnambool.

Since then, Mrs Mugavin has risen up the ranks at St John of God Warrnambool Hospital, retiring as director of mission after 34 years at the hospital.

“I started here as a nurse and I’ve had a variety of roles in the hospital, from nursing, quality manager, hospital coordinator, lots of different roles, which has been a privilege really,” she said.

Mrs Mugavin has seen many changes and challenges in her more than three decades at the hospital, from moving to a new facility to losing the midwifery service.

“As a cultural thing it was great to have the births and the deaths, it was the journey of life, and there were always bubs coming and going. It has had an impact. But then again, we’ve grown and we now have rehab and we’ve now got mental health,” she said.

Despite many happy memories, Mrs Mugavin said the time was right to head into retirement.

“We’re very much a family and I’ve made lifelong friends. It is such a privilege to care for people when they’re most vulnerable and if we can make their journey here a little easier that makes it all worthwhile,” she said.

“Now I’m looking to enjoy the family and follow some interests, I might get through some of the sewing projects I never finished at home and do a bit of travelling.”

St John of God Warrnambool chief executive officer Trevor Matheson said Mrs Mugavin would be sadly missed.

“Her dedication in maintaining and carrying out the mission and values of St John of God within our hospital cannot be underestimated,” he said.