Service is second to none

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE GP, Dr Elroy Schroeder, has received the Eastern Ranges GP Association ‘Dr John Lockwood Award’ for 2009.
The award, which recognises outstanding contribution to the association, was established in memory of one of Dr Schroeder’s partners in the Yarra Valley Clinic, the late Dr John Lockwood, who also played a prominent role in the ERGPA.
Dr Schroeder came to Healesville just a year after arriving in Australia from apartheid South Africa in 1970 and has served five generations of local residents as a local doctor.
He also served on the Healesville Hospital Board and was a founding member of the Lilydale Division of General Practice and president of the ERGPA.
In 2007 Dr Schroeder was awarded Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow Award and last year he was recognised for more than 35 years of outstanding service at the Rural Doctors Awards.
ERGPA CEO Kristin Michaels said Dr. Schroeder had provided more than a decade of service to the board of the ERGPA as both chair and treasurer, as well as chairing the management committee of the After Hours Medical Service and the Clinical Governance Group.
“Dr Schroeder’s personal commitment to his profession through the association is second to none,” Ms Michaels said.