Ilana on day 1 of her Telehealth role
Ilana joined the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) in 2014 initially working as a casual clerk for outpatients and the wards. In 2017, full of zest and enthusiasm, she joined the Telehealth team as the inaugural project officer. Ilana’s deep knowledge of the organisation and the strong relationships she had built with co-workers was integral to the success of the telehealth implementation project. She was a pivotal part of embedding video interpreting so that CALD patients could have access to more interpreters in both telehealth and face-to-face appointments. Ilana was promoted to the Telehealth coordinator role in 2019. When the first COVID wave hit and lockdowns commenced, the demand for telehealth skyrocketed. Ilana worked tirelessly through the turmoil of lockdowns to ensure that patients were able to receive their appointments via telehealth. RMH was fortunate to benefit from Ilana’s rich experience as a former business owner in hospitality. These skills she extended generously to the hospital community, inspiring an enduring focus on quality experiences for telehealth patients. Her insight and empathy led to the design and implementation of the telehealth test call service. Ilana’s vision for the service was clear. No patient should be left behind because of internet connectivity or access to devices. This required an extraordinary amount of coordination and patience.
Working with Ilana was a delight. She had a wicked sense of humour and had a way of working hard while ensuring we were all laughing along the way. She knew everyone. She loved coffee, her colleagues and her family and sometimes they were one and the same, working alongside her sister Betul and Aunt Fay in Outpatients. We were often left spellbound by her stories of travel to Turkey and tales of her Grandmothers’ famous soup.
Unfortunately, Ilana would become a patient of RMH through a tough battle with Leukaemia and was cared for by so many of our wonderful RMH teams. Testament to the relationships Ilana developed at RMH, many colleagues donated their personal leave to support Ilana’s treatment when she was no longer able to work.
Ilana passed away on 9 December 2021
We are all so sad to lose such a vibrant, energetic, helpful, kind and loveable member of our Telehealth community. Our deepest condolences to her family.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un
“Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.”
Tribute provided by Karrie Long, RMH