At heart, Chris White is still a country boy, playing footy for Rochester until his mid-20s. Growing up in Rochester, community has been central to his life.
“A sense of community is one of those things that gets imparted on you in a country town. That sense of community around a footy club sticks with you for the rest of your life,” he said.
Working at Bendigo Health for 15 years, Chris said, has helped him maintain that strong connection to country Victoria for so long.
Chris has established an impressive resume – from project manager and business director, to department manager and now, the Director of Bendigo Health’s Cancer Centre.
“I’ve loved the [Director] role since day one. We have an amazing team and have achieved a lot for the cancer patients in our region. I am passionate about continuing to provide the best cancer care for the patients in our rural and regional areas that is close to home,” he said.
“It’s great to have that opportunity to make a tangible difference.”
Five years ago, he joined the Board of Rochester and Elmore District Health Service (REDHS).
“At the time, the Rochester hospital and Rochester as a town was continuing to work through the challenges of rural health, and I thought joining the Board was a good opportunity for me to give back to the town which had given me so much growing up.
“It’s nice to be able to give back in some way by using the skills I’ve developed over 17 years in the health sector. That’s what drew me to the Board,” he said.
Now the Board Chair at REDHS, Chris is helping manage the recovery of the health service in the aftermath of the 2022 floods.
“[Rochester] has been widely reported as going through a lot of challenges with the flood recovery process,” he said.
“It was really heartening to see how the community has responded and how they’re collectively supporting each other with what they’re going through.
“It extends to REDHS, too. It’s such an important community service, so it’s important to get everything back up and running as fast as we can,” he said.
Ultimately, Chris is grateful he gets to enjoy the best of both worlds.
“I’ve been able to maintain the strong connections to my home town and the community in Rochester thanks to the flexible nature of the Bendigo Health,” he said.
“Rochester will always be my home.”
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