The former Director of Nursing at St George Hospital, Rosemary Snodgrass, has died at the age of 74.
Rosemary graduated from St George Hospital in 1966 and undertook her Midwifery Certificate in Adelaide before returning to Sydney to complete her Tresillian Certificate.
In 1968 she joined the Inland Mission and was posted to Oodnadatta where she quickly lent to turn her hand to anything.
Rosemary returned to St George Hospital in 1973 when she became a clinical nurse educator.
In 1980 she gained he Diploma of Nursing Education at Cumberland College and in 1984 she was promoted to Director of Nursing at St George Hospital, a position she held for five years.
From 1989 to 1999, Rosemary was the Director of Nursing and Community Health Care at Royal North Shore Hospital.
On her retirement from Royal North Shore she became an Australian Council on Health Care Standards (ACHS) surveyor and a training coordinator in 2001.
In that role she travelled to all states and territories accrediting hundreds of hospitals and health care services.
“Because of her strong commitment to quality improvement in the health care system, Rosemary was highly regarded in the health care community,” St George Hospital Graduate Nurses Association secretary Joan Wagstaff said.
“In 2017 Rosemary was awarded the highest and most prestigious award of the ACHS, the Gold Medal which recognises stand-alone contributions that an individual has made to improving quality Heath,” Mrs Wagstaff said.
Rosemary was also a Fellow of both the Australian College of Nursing and the Institute of Nursing Administration, and deputy president of the NSW Nurses Regional Board.
She was awarded the Johnson and Johnson Wharton Fellow.
“Rosemary remained a loyal and active member of the St George Hospital Graduate Nurses Association and never missed an annual reunion until last year due to her illness,” Mrs Wagstaff said.
“She was a very devout Christian and spent time as a missionary. She was compassionate and well-liked by all her worked with her. She will be missed.”
Rosemary passed away peacefully on March 5 at St Vincent Hospital.
A funeral service will be held for Rosemary Snodgrass at Narwee Baptist Church on Thursday at 2pm.
