Control of the region's biggest Aboriginal health service will be returned to Wagga residents, following six months in the hands of a special administrator.
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The Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation (RivMed) was placed under special administration in February after a watchdog examination uncovered years of dysfunction and financial mismanagement.
Special administrator Peter McQuoid says he has accomplished all of his main objectives and is now "very happy" to hand the corporation back to members on August 26.
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The three key targets of his tenure included addressing the service's critical staffing issues, implementing stricter financial oversight and putting together a skills-focused board of directors.
"There were quite a lot of positions vacant in the management team and those have now been filled which will make a significant difference," Mr McQuoid said.
"The service also didn't have corporation-wide budgets and budget variance reports, all of which have now been put in place for over 40 different programs that are run via RivMed."
The members who will join the clinic's board of directors will be selected from the community advisory group (CAG) by Mr McQuoid on Wednesday, while two specialist independent directors will also be appointed.
Mr McQuoid said he was confident RivMed would be left in capable hands: "[The CAG] are a highly-skilled group of individuals who are operating very much in a collegiate way for the good of the corporation."
CAG member Troy Pietsch said the administration period had been emotional for many in Wagga's Aboriginal community but ultimately resulted in major improvements for a crucial service.
"RivMed is such a complex organisation and it's not just a medical centre it also creates career opportunities - it's instrumental in supporting the Wagga and wider community," he said.
"[The special administration] has allowed us time to take a step back and get a clear picture of where RivMed is at, so when we step forward in a few weeks the corporation has a good platform to build off."
Mr Pietsch said a key focus for the soon-to-be-appointed board of directors will be to take a less hands-on approach.
"We're going to really approach the board governance and strategic direction from a higher level and not get caught up in the operations," he said.
Leading the health service out of the special administration will be Peta Larsen, who began as RivMed's chief executive officer on August 8.
Ms Larsen's initial impressions of the service have been "really positive" and she said the mood around the centre is one of hope.
"The administration period has assisted the corporation in refining its processes," she said.
"We have templates for reporting, we've had service development plans, all staff are skilled to do their role ... and there's a lot of new staff.
Ms Larsen said her priority over the next few weeks will be to engage and build relationships with the community.
"Ultimately we're here to serve the community and make sure they can access critical medical and dental services that are so needed in a culturally-safe way," she said.
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