From First Breaths to Final Steps

Mater’s Legacy of Compassionate Care

For nearly a century, Mater Private Hospital Mackay has been by the side of Mackay and Whitsunday residents, supporting them through every stage of life, from the first breath to the final steps.

This commitment to compassionate, high-quality healthcare is exemplified by dedicated clinicians like midwife Sarah Fordyce, whose leadership in Mater Mackay’s maternity unit has brought invaluable support to local families, and the late Ailsa Millewski, a beloved palliative nurse whose gentle, caring presence touched countless lives.

They represent the heart of Mater's mission to provide compassionate, world-class care at every turn of life's journey.

Mater Mothers' Private Mackay midwife Sarah Fordyce has journeyed from aspiring accountant to devoted midwife and Nurse Unit Manager, embodying the values of care, compassion, and leadership that define Mater. Recently recognised with the Mater Early Career Excellence Award, Sarah’s path is marked by resilience and dedication, proving that a passion for people can forge unexpected careers.

After a chance conversation with a midwife in high school, Sarah felt a powerful calling to healthcare, even as she initially pursued a degree and Master's in accounting.

“I decided that midwifery was my calling,” Sarah said.

“After completing one year as a Registered Midwife (RM), although I loved the profession, I still had the feeling that I should have completed my accounting.”

Sarah worked as a RM while completing a Master of Professional Accounting and said although her career trajectory had not been straightforward, she found a profession where both her passion for midwifery and management aligned.

“My accounting experience was in risk management and is utilised on a daily basis in my role as Nurse Unit Manager,” she said.

At Mater Mothers' Private Mackay, Sarah leads a team providing exceptional care, aided by Mater’s status as Queensland’s referral centre for babies with heart conditions. With facilities like the 24/7 Pregnancy Assessment Centre, serving expectant mothers from six weeks onward, and the Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) – which treats over 2,000 babies annually – Mater stands as a leader in maternal and fetal medicine.

Through Teladoc, Sarah and her team can connect with the NCCU’s expert neonatology team in South-East Queensland, delivering cutting-edge care to some of the region’s most vulnerable patients.

“Being a part of a large healthcare organisation means that we have access to world-class specialists and nursing staff, and innovative research and education,” Sarah says.

While Sarah and her team watch closely over those precious first breaths, there is another team dedicated to ensuring that a person’s last steps are embraced with compassion, care and comfort.

Nurses like Miechelle Williams and the late Ailsa Millewski embody this commitment, bringing warmth and empathy to every patient and family they support—a legacy of care that resonates deeply within the unit.

It has been a year since nurse Ailsa Millewski passed away peacefully in the Mater palliative care unit where she once worked, but the legacy of her care has not faded.

Ailsa joined Mater Private Hospital Mackay in 2010, working in the maternity team and coordinating the hospital’s Health Hearing Program. She made a positive impact on her patients and colleagues from the very beginning.

“People said that when Ailsa smiled, it wasn’t just a smile. She smiled with her whole face,” her husband Gary Millewski recalled.

“She loved working with the babies and young children.”

Ailsa worked across many areas of the hospital, but felt a special draw to the Palliative Care Unit on St Catherine’s ward. The unit has grown over the past 30 years to provide holistic support to patients experiencing lifelimiting illness. Ailsa soon became close friends with fellow Palliative Care Nurse, Miechelle Williams, who said she had ‘fallen into’ this demanding and specialised field of nursing.

“I was still relatively new to Mackay when I met Ailsa. From the get go, I just thought, ‘This is an extremely lovely person.’ You knew if she was on shift with you, it wouldn’t feel like work.”

Miechelle and Ailsa grew closer when Ailsa was part of the nursing team who cared for Miechelle’s husband Warren when he was in Palliative Care Unit.

Warren passed in 2018.

“It was only two and a half years from the time of my husband’s diagnosis to his passing,” Miechelle said.

“In that time, everything about my kids’ lives was disrupted – but once he was in Palliative Care here at Mater, Ailsa just brought that extra little bit of compassion.”

Last year roles were reversed when Ailsa was admitted as a patient in Mater’s Palliative Care Unit.

“Ailsa had fond memories working with Miechelle right up until she took ill – she first showed symptoms that something was wrong in 2021,” Gary said.

“She was always an amazing cook so the first I noticed something was wrong was one night when she was cooking a chicken stir-fry and she came out to me and said ‘Gary, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’

“It took until the end of the year to work out that Ailsa had developed a tumour in her adrenal glands which we had removed in Townsville – but a biopsy and PET scan revealed it was already a stage 3 carcinoma and had spread to her spine.

“She opted not to have chemo and wanted to pass away at home.

“I cared for her at home, bought all the equipment, but didn’t want to be the one to tell her that it was getting too much for me.

“She could see though. I just couldn’t do that last bit – our GP had been doing home visits and we went into him one day. He visited her and she said to him, ‘I think I’ll have to go across the road to the Mater.’

“He said, ‘I guess you’ll want the penthouse,’ and she said, ‘Yes, room 116.’

“The first time I laid eyes on Ailsa was 12 September 1984.

“On 12 September 2023, she was admitted to Palliative Care.”

Miechelle cared for Ailsa throughout her admission.

“Caring for Ailsa at the end was difficult because this was a colleague I had worked with, but it was also such a beautiful experience to be able to support her and her family like she had done for me and my family previously,” Miechelle said.

“The night of her passing, Gary and their daughter were both there and it all just felt like it happened at the right time for everyone.”

“Miechelle didn’t have to say anything in those final moments, just her presence there with us was fantastic,” Gary said.

“Ailsa’s wish was that she didn’t want anyone else to be with her when she passed, only me – and it turned out that, at five to two in the morning, our daughters were dozing off to sleep, I was holding Ailsa’s hand, and I just said, ‘I think she’s taken her last breath.’

“She had - and it was just the two of us.”

Gary shared Miechelle’s appreciation for the staff, saying Ailsa was provided with the same care she had given to countless other patients over the years.

“The feeling whenever you are at the Mater is always different to other places. It is so personal and you never feel like a number; you know every person is there for you and nowhere more so than with the palliative care team,” he said.

“Ailsa had always said ‘Gaz, don’t be sad because dying is just as much a part of life as living.’

She said it’s such a privilege to see a baby born, but also a privilege to be able to support a patient at the other end of their care too.”

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