Wedgetail Retreat Team

The Wedgetail Retreat community hospice team comprises 24/7 registered nursing staff, trained volunteer palliative carers and creative volunteer chefs. They are all dedicated and caring individuals & are there to support and care for people with a life-limiting illness as well as their loved ones.

Most guests at the hospice have their own General Practitioner who is welcome to continue to oversee their care at Wedgetail Retreat. However, if they are unable to do so, we have Palliative Care Doctors available.

Local social workers and therapists are also on hand to emotionally support guests and their loved ones.

Amanda King, RN bio

Nurse Manager of Wedgetail Retreat

Committee:

Meredith Dennis, OAM

President & Volunteer Coordinator:

Meredith has been an inspiring palliative care innovator for nearly two decades. Volunteering for TPS since 1998, her enthusiasm for providing quality community palliative care is ever present. As President and Volunteer Coordinator, Meredith works with the committee and oversees the operation of the volunteer palliative care training, home-hospice support services, Wedgetail Retreat community hospice, educational courses, Sunshine ‘Pamper’ Days, loan of medical equipment to clients and the TPS Hospice Op shops.

Meredith understands first-hand what it is like to care for a significant family member at the end of their life. Incredibly in 2014, her father was one of the first people to spend his last days in the beautiful surrounds of Wedgetail Retreat after being diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. Surrounded by family, Meredith cared for her dad at Wedgetail Retreat, just before it was to be officially opened. READ MORE

In 1998 Meredith Dennis became part of a passionate group of community members with a vision: to create a charity to care for people with a life-limiting illness and eventually open their own hospice. Thus, Tweed Palliative Support (TPS) was born.

In 2015, TPS opened Wedgetail Retreat Community Hospice. Meredith has tirelessly presided over the success and growth of the organisation since its beginning. The opening of the

Hospice has been one of the rewards for her years of commitment to bringing quality end-of-life care to the Tweed community and beyond.

Meredith was born and grew up in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. She trained and worked as a nurse there before moving to Sydney to work at St Vincent’s Private Hospital. The death of a cancer patient devastated her resulting in her decision to change her career path. It’s ironic that palliative care would become her true life’s passion!

She became a Director of two Video Ezy stores and also owned and operated an organic fruit and vegetable store in Sydney. She continued caring for others by volunteering with ACON and Meals on Wheels.

In 1996 she moved to Murwillumbah where she began her extensive volunteer commitment to community and palliative care in the Tweed Shire. She concurrently volunteered as a ‘Pink Lady’ at Murwillumbah Hospital for 10 years, the “Friends of The Art Gallery’, ‘Wildlife Carers’ and opened and ran the Murwillumbah Hospital Coffee Shop for 2 years to help raise funds and the profile of TPS.

Meredith’s strong advocacy for quality community palliative care options has brought the community together. Her exceptional leadership, determination and inclusive approach are widely respected by the medical profession and community at large. Currently she volunteers approximately 60 hours every week in her role as President and Volunteer Coordinator, overseeing all of the charity’s services. She delivers medical equipment, meets new palliative care clients and their families, supports Wedgetail Retreat guests, staff and volunteers, attends palliative care meetings and collaborates with the multi-disciplinary medical teams and community services (volunteers, nursing homes, home health agencies, councils, social workers, community health workers).

Somehow this charismatic, inspirational force of nature still finds time to run her small farm and care for multiple dogs, horses, cats and some fish!

In 2019 Meredith was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her work with TPS and Wedgetail Retreat. She also received the Tweed Citizen of the Year award for 2019. This was added to her and TPS many awards over the past 20 years.

The growth of TPS and the opening of Wedgetail Retreat are testimony to Meredith’s dedication and leadership skills. Over the last 21 years, Meredith has been instrumental in the exponential growth of the charity from a handful of people to hundreds and it continues to expand today. She is a mentor to many and is adored by all. This incredible woman is one of a kind!

Isabelle Pilonchery

Vice-President:

John Woodward

Treasurer:

Kay Newman

Secretary:

Autumne Camidge

Training Co-ordinator:

Committee Members:

Rhona Marr

Margaret Stevenson

Deirdre Stewart

Sue Evans

Helen Sutton