The man who led Dental Health Services Victoria in its formative years has been made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Dr Martin Dooland was Chief Executive of The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne in 1994. Two years later he became the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of DHSV.
Now living in Adelaide where he has recently retired as executive director of the South Australian Dental Service, Dr Dooland was awarded an AM for his: “significant service to public dental health”.
DHSV CEO Dr Deborah Cole said the honour was well-deserved and described Dr Dooland as an inspiration to many people in public dentistry.
“I am proud to be one of them,” she said. “Martin has led the fight for improving the oral health of the Australian community. He has been focused on the agenda for decades.”
She said he had a sense of logic that was based on an overwhelming desire to improve oral health for disadvantaged people.
Dr Cole said Dr Dooland never gave up a fight and it was this tenacity that had helped him to bring about change.
“He is seen by many as being the creator of the two most significant national public schemes, the Commonwealth Dental Health Program and the newly announced $4.1 billion National Dental Scheme.” Dr Cole said.
Dr Cole said having followed his progress for 30 years, she believed that all of Dr Dooland’s work had led to the recent Federal Government announcement of $4.1 billion for dental care.
“While I recognise that many others have contributed, he started the battle, continued the fight, never gave up, provided the evidence and supported decision makers,” Dr Cole said. “He has never sought the limelight or personal kudos for his actions.”
Dr Dooland was the CEO of DHSV from 1996 until he returned to Adelaide in 2001. During his time at DHSV he was involved in the merging of the school dental service with the RDHM.