Dr Elroy Schroeder, second from right, with, from left, RWAV chairman Dr Philip Webster, VMIA chair Adrian Nye, Mrs Barbara Schroeder and Jacinta Allan MP.By Kath Gannaway
LAST year Healesville GP Dr Elroy Schroeder received community recognition when he was awarded Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow Award.
He was described then as “… a true country doctor whose understanding of all people, no matter what their circumstances, set him apart from the average GP”.
Last week it was his peers who honoured a colleague who has served the Healesville and district communities for 37 years.
Dr Schroeder’s contribution was recognised at the Rural Doctors Awards in Melbourne.
The awards recognise doctors – and spouses – who have contributed 35 years or more of service, or who have made an outstanding contribution in other ways to their rural communities.
Dr Schroeder was nominated by the Eastern Ranges GP Association (ERGPA), of which he is a past president.
ERGPA CEO Kristin Michaels said the association was delighted to have the opportunity to nominate Dr Schroeder.
“The unselfish commitment of general practitioners to the communities in which they serve are often overlooked,” she said.
“This award is the second such award given to a Healesville doctor. The late Dr John Lockwood was similarly recognised by his peers in 2007.”
Dr Schroeder was 26 when he arrived in Australia from apartheid South Africa in 1970. He joined the Yarra Valley Clinic less than a year later.
In addition to his work as a GP to five generations of residents, Dr Schroeder has served as a member and president of the Healesville Hospital Board, was a founding member of the Lilydale Division of General Practice and president of the ERGPA.
Accepting the award Dr Schroeder said it was always pleasing to have one’s work acknowledged.
“The demands on general practitioners are often underestimated and unrecognised,” he said.
“The giving of these awards demonstrates appreciation of the commitment made by doctors to their communities.”
The Victorian Rural Doctors Awards are auspiced by the Rural Workforce Agency, Victoria, supported by the Rural Medical Family Network, Rural Doctors Association of Victoria and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and sponsored by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority.
