60 years of service recognised

A career in the health field has led to an Order of Australia Medal for Busselton’s Douglas King.

Mr King was awarded the OAM for his service to medical administration and community health, having worked in the field for 60 years,

Mr King’s first job in the field was in 1954, when he joined the Health Department in an administration role.

In 1967 he moved to King Edward Memorial Hospital as an assistant administrator, later becoming the director of administration in 1990.

From 1993 to 2014, Mr King was the chief executive officer of the Medical Research Foundation at Royal Perth Hospital.

One of his proudest moments was being involved in the establishment of the new block of King Edward Memorial Hospital in the 1970s.

“In those days it was the be-all and end-all of obstetrics and I had a lot to do with the background and building of that,” he said.

Another memorable achievement was his involvement in the development of a six-storey facility in Perth dedicated to research.

“In those days that in itself was quite unheard of in WA,” he said.

Mr King was also the state secretary of the Australasian College of Health Service Management for 25 years and has been a board member for the Val Lishman Foundation since 2014.

Finding out he had been awarded an OAM was an amazing surprise.

“It’s been 18 months since I retired and after 18 months you don’t expect these things to happen to you,” he said.

“It’s quite an honour.”

Reflecting on his career and involvement in health, Mr Kind said he was drawn to the field because it was intriguing and allowed him to meet people from all walks of life.

“Medical research is extraordinarily interesting,” he said.

“It’s one of the intriguing professions people love and you feel you are doing something.”