![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Pieter-Pretorius-and-Nick-Bush.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\")
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TWO long serving East Grampians Health Service supporters were named Life Governors at the health service\u2019s 29th annual general meeting.<\/p>\n
A Life Governor is the most prestigious recognition of commitment and dedication to the health service and the highest honour bestowed, with the Board this year awarding David Hosking and Pieter Pretorius.<\/p>\n
Mr Hosking and Dr Pretorius join a long line of EGHS Life Governors, who have served the community and the health service over many years. Hosking is a long serving member of both the EGHS Board and EGHS Building for the Future Foundation.<\/p>\n
He commenced as a Board Director in 2005 and served for six years through to 2010, during which time he served as treasurer from 2007 to 2010.<\/p>\n
In August 2010 David was appointed as a consumer representative on the inaugural Board of the EGHS Building for the Future Foundation. After one year, in 2011 he was appointed as Chair of the Foundation. Under his leadership the funds under management have increased to over $3.0 million, whilst allocating over $700K in scholarships and capital projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid has enjoyed his association with EGHS over the years, both as a Board Director and as a Trustee of the Building for the Future Foundation and said it has been incredibly rewarding, both personally and professionally,\u201d EGHS Board Vice Chair Cameron Evans said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the Trustees are very proud of the assistance the Foundation has been able to provide the Health Service since its inception, and David said being the Chair of the Foundation was very enjoyable and never a chore.<\/p>\n
Dr Pretorius has been an invaluable asset to the Ararat and East Grampians community since his arrival from South Africa in 2004. A deeply committed medical professional, Dr Pretorius views medicine not just as a career but as a life-long vocation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr Pretorius\u2019 guiding principle has always been, \u2018We are rural doctors trained in medicine; we are expected to provide care to our patients. We can\u2019t not be on call or fail to provide service\u2019.\u00a0 This commitment has driven him to ensure that high-quality healthcare is always accessible to his community, regardless of the personal sacrifices required,\u201d Mr Evans said.<\/p>\n
Mr Evans said in April 2012, when East Grampians Health Service faced the sudden loss of its full-time surgeon, the entire Obstetrics service was at risk.<\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s ability to provide caesarean sections and other essential surgical procedures hung in the balance, threatening to displace over 100 deliveries per year to facilities 100 kilometres away in Horsham or Ballarat. This also endangered the practices of fellow obstetricians Dr Michael Connellan and Dr Derek Pope.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr Pretorius rose to the challenge, stepping in to provide vital Obstetric Caesarean cover for the hospital,\u201d Mr Evans said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor nearly a year, from April 2012 through February 2013, he worked tirelessly, covering weekdays and weekends without breaks to maintain the hospital\u2019s Obstetrics service. His unyielding dedication ensured that East Grampians Health Service could continue to provide critical maternity care, safeguarding a vital community resource.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Evans said that Dr Pretorius is equally respected for his leadership in medical education. He has played an essential role in training medical students from Monash, Melbourne, and Deakin Universities and teaching the 3rd year students at Stawell and Ararat, as well as RACGP and ACRRM Registrars and GP Interns.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor his unwavering service, leadership, and contributions to healthcare and medical education, Dr Pieter Pretorius is highly deserving of the Life Governorship Award,\u201d Mr Evans said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TWO long serving East Grampians Health Service supporters were named Life Governors at the health service\u2019s 29th annual general meeting.
\nA Life Governor is the most prestigious recognition of commitment and dedication to the health service and the highest honour bestowed, with the Board this year awarding David Hosking and Pieter Pretorius.
\nMr Hosking and Dr Pretorius join a long line of EGHS Life Governors, who have served the community and the health service over many years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"class_list":["post-2936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/David-Hosking-and-Megan-Shea-Life-Governor-award-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-Lm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2936"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}