Doctors

The doctors who work with Snowy Hydro SouthCare are specialists in the fields of anaesthesia, intensive care, emergency medicine and surgery. They are based at The Canberra Hospital and contribute to the medical retrieval service on a part-time basis, covering the roster 24-hours-a-day in addition to working at the hospital full-time. Doctors ensure that the highest quality of care is provided to all of their patients and that critically-ill and injured patients are transported regardless of location Doctors are a vital part of the four-member crew that completes life-saving missions, photo courtesy of Damian McMahonor medical condition. The doctors are dedicated to supporting their rural colleagues and enjoy the challenge of the unexpected.  

The Canberra Hospital doctors that work with Snowy Hydro SouthCare:

  • Dr. John Ellingham
  • Dr. David Elliott
  • Dr. James French
  • Dr. Kelvin Grove
  • Dr. Mike Hall
  • Dr. Greg Hollis
  • Dr. Gabe Khouri
  • Dr. Sashi Kumar
  • Dr. David Lamond
  • Dr. Carmel McInerney
  • Dr. Damian McMahon
  • Dr. Cliff Peady
  • Dr. Andrew Singer

Doctor Profile: Dr. Greg Hollis

Dr. Greg Hollis has been working in medicine for over 17 yearsAfter 17 years in medicine, Dr. Greg Hollis has spent the last seven years working in emergency medicine with The Canberra Hospital and Snowy Hydro SouthCare. His work includes everything from clinical work to teaching, to administrative duties and being on call for a 24-hour Snowy Hydro SouthCare shift each week.

In addition to Greg's extensive medical training in critical care, life-support, trauma care and retrieval, he has also completed helicopter safety training and worked full-time for six-months with another helicopter service before coming to work with Snowy Hydro SouthCare.

Patient retrieval is of particular interest to Greg and is where emergency medicine and Snowy Hydro SouthCare meet most frequently.  70% of Snowy Hydro SouthCare missions are retrieval missions, also known as secondary missions. Secondary missions are when patients in need of urgent specialised care are transported to a hospital that can offer the care they need. Because most patients involved in secondary missions are in critical condition, having a doctor on board is extremely important. In secondary missions, "the most important thing is not the vehicle-its what the patient needs, when they need it, and where they need to go," says Greg.

Greg is part of a highly-skilled and dedicated team that complete an average of one life-saving mission everyday-and he loves it. As Greg says, "It is great, I enjoy retrieval a lot. It is very different to normal emergency department work. At the hospital, we have 30-40 patients we are responsible for - on the helicopter, you are responsible for one. It is different to most of your working time." Dr. Greg Hollis with former patient Roger Boyce, Captain Craig Thomas and paramedic Damon Relf, photo courtesy of The Canberra Times

In addition to enjoying his work, Greg also takes pride in each mission he does, having kept his own personal spreadsheet of the 620 missions he has completed throughout his career. As Greg puts it, the best part about retrieval work is, "The teamwork involved and the privilege of working with people that are very good at what they do. Bringing together a pilot, aircrewman, paramedic and doctor-they each have very different skills that make the mission work well."