Our tribute to colleague Kalli Mantala-Bozos
It is with heavy hearts that we have said goodbye to one of our colleagues, Kalli Mantala-Bozos, who passed away following a prolonged battle with Covid-19. Kalli had dedicated her life and career to helping people and supporting them with their mental health and wellbeing.
Tributes from colleagues who are deeply shocked and saddened by the news described Kalli as “so full of life and a beautiful person to be around”, and as “a charismatic, compassionate, hard-working colleague and friend who will stay in our minds forever”. Another said “Kalli was a genuine, kind-hearted individual who made time to build relationships, bring a smile to others’ faces, and who put her all into her clinical work while being family-oriented and a cornerstone of her community.” She made a huge impact on the service users and families she worked with, as well as with her colleagues, and her loss will be felt by us all.
Kalli was a clinical psychologist in our Calderdale core mental health team and a member of our bereavement development group. She worked in our Laura Mitchell Health and Wellbeing Centre, providing care and compassion to people every day. Kalli also helped us develop and deliver palliative care support and bereavement education and training. She was so excited to be working with us and to share the knowledge and expertise that she had gained in Greece. We were delighted that she chose to share this as part of our Trust and to the benefit of the people in Calderdale.
Rob Webster, chief executive of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “To those who will be grieving the loss of Kalli – friends, family, colleagues – I send my deepest and heartfelt sympathies. My thanks go to Kalli for the dedication and commitment she showed to the people of Calderdale throughout the time she worked with us. She spent her life helping people in their time of need, both in and out of work, and the loss to the communities she lived in and served will be felt deeply. Kalli was an inspiration and will be very much missed by us all.”
To honour the passing of Kalli we will be dedicating a therapy room in the Laura Mitchell Health and Wellbeing Centre to her memory, and will be collating the kind and thoughtful words staff and service users have provided to us. If any other colleagues, service users or people who knew Kalli would like to share their condolences, tributes or comments please email them to comms@swyt.nhs.uk
