NATIONAL NEWS
Ramsay’s Australian sites act locally to support bushfire relief efforts
In addition to Ramsay Health Care’s national bushfire relief initiatives (pages 12–13), many hospitals undertook their own initiatives to support the bushfire relief
effort in their local communities. This included creating care packages for community groups or sourcing medical supplies for the treatment of injured wildlife.
Albert Road Clinic has initiated a project to create beautiful
items for bushfire-injured animals, such as pouches, nests,
mittens and more. Nursing and therapy staff have been
supporting approximately 15 patients to knit and sew the
creations. They spent approximately 80 hours and used six
packets of felt and 10 balls of wool to make the items.
Frances Perry House collected medical items that would
otherwise have been destined for landfill and donated them to
help fire-affected animals through Warriors for Wildlife – e.g.
packages of gauze, wipes, clean disposable items such as
sterile dressing scissors, pipettes, and other out-of-date stock.
Greenslopes Private Hospital has provided medical supplies
to the RSCPA shelter in Brisbane, Warriors for Wildlife,
WIRES and The Rescue Collective. Items included a box of
infant resuscitation masks, theatre sheets/gowns, isolation
gowns, cannulas, bandages, surgical globes, intubation kits,
scalpels, tubing for drips, wound packing, bowls, kidney
dishes, and more.
Hillcrest Rockhampton Private Hospital has provided a
number of baskets filled with items donated by staff, following
bushfires in Yeppoon, Central Queensland where a number of
homes were recently impacted.
Hollywood Private Hospital has a nurse who has made a large
batch of scented candles which she is selling to raise money
for Ramsay’s bushfire appeal.
Joondalup Health Campus’s supply department has supplied
items to assist with helping wildlife affected by bushfires. They
donated medical supplies such as absorbent pads and cloths,
plastic suture sets, kidney dishes, and IV starter kits. Staff from
Joondalup Health Campus also raised $2,424 for the Yanchep
Volunteer Fire Service, presenting the cheque to firefighters
when they visited the hospital.
Mt Wilga Private Hospital and Berkeley Vale Private Hospital
have contributed to the animal rescue effort, Looking After Our
Kosciuszko Orphans (LAOKO), by donating approximately 15kg
of medical items. This included IV fluids, water for injection,
sterile water for irrigation, non-sterile gauze, betadine,
chlorhexidine swabs and prep, suture kits, sterile drapes,
creape bandages, POP bandages, Velband, antibacterial foam
dressings and local anaesthetic. Mt Wilga Private Hospital has
also donated a box of medical supplies to Hornsby Ku-ring-gai
Rural Fire Service.
Murray Valley Private Hospital helped to care for 15 aged care
residents evacuated from Alpine Health Facilities. The staff
also provided emotional support to these residents’ families
who were affected by the fires. Murray Valley Private offered
Willow Park Lodge accommodation to the nurses from Alpine
Health who were rostered to work, as they too lived in towns
which were evacuated or otherwise needed to travel long
distances on roads with poor visibility due to smoke.
North Shore Private Hospital has donated IV fluids to a vet in
Braidwood (part of regional NSW) to use for the treatment of
wildlife injured in the bushfires. Theatre staff have also been
collecting unusable or out-of-date surgical items that would
otherwise go to landfill to donate to local animal shelters
and WIRES. These items include surgical drapes, hollowear,
dressings, gloves, fluids, dressing packs and gauze.
North West Private Hospital’s clinical team has gathered
medical stock and supplies for animals impacted by the
bushfires. The donations consisted of items from North West
Private Hospital, and from generous visiting medical officers.
The collections were delivered to the Rescue Collective and to
New South Wales courtesy of the Samford Valley Vet.
Port Macquarie Private Hospital has donated money via the
Wauchope IGA to be spent on team supplies for the Hastings
RFS. More than 100 care packages have also been made up
by the hospital for use by volunteer firefighters. The hospital
hosted a kids club for two days while local day care centres
were shut, so that other employees could continue to work.
14 The Ramsay Way 2020 | 01
Ramsay Pharmacy Group’s merchandise team worked closely
with Aero Health to create customised assistance packs,
which contained basic first aid supplies such as bandages,
antiseptic cream and burn gel dressings. More than 1,000 of
these packs were donated to areas in Coffs Harbour, Grafton
and Rockhampton. Local Ramsay Pharmacy stores provided
the packs to shelters, rural fire service groups and other local
community associations. Some stores also donated basic
supplies such as toothpaste and toothbrushes and hampers
for firefighters.
Southern Highlands Private Hospital and Nowra Private
Hospital were offered as accommodation to Rural Fire Service
volunteers and to Ramsay staff members who were forced to
leave their homes. 32 firefighters from the North and North
West Tasmania Fire Service stayed at Nowra Private Hospital
during the peak of the emergency. Approximately 30 Ramsay
staff volunteered to organise the firefighters’ food, do their
washing, change their bedding and make sure cold beer was
in the fridge at the end of a long day.
St Andrew’s Private Hospital has donated expired medical
supplies for the SA Koala Hospital and was raffling a
handcrafted quilt donated by a patient, with money raised
going towards the bushfire appeal. Operating theatre staff
have collected and sent eight boxes of unsterile or expired
stock to help care for animals affected by the bushfires. The
donations are being sent down to the Native Animal rescue
group in Mallacoota free of charge by Australia Post.
Strathfield Private Hospital has donated a range of items
to MediDivert, which aims to procure unwanted and unused
medical goods and re-deploy them to areas of need, such as
caring for native animals. The products – including syringes,
fluids, bandages, gloves, gowns, scalpels, and eye wash would
otherwise have gone to landfill. Strathfield Private Hospital has
also sent unused eye patches to the Fred Hollows Foundation.
The Avenue Hospital, Glenferrie Private Hospital and Masada
Private Hospital have collected supplies which could be used
to treat sick and injured wildlife. These items included burn
cream, bandages, plastic bowls, cups and trays. The group of
hospitals also teamed up with the Skye CFA Volunteer Fire
Brigade to create festive hampers for volunteer firefighters in
the Glenn Innes region who spent Christmas Day on the fire
ground instead of being with their families. Masada Private
Hospital’s allied health team also worked tirelessly to sell
tickets for the site’s bushfire relief raffle, which included three
major prizes.
The Border Cancer Hospital provided social work support
to patients who were impacted by the bushfires. The day
oncology unit has provided advice and information to people
who were unable to return to their centres for treatment.
Nurses collected clothes and toiletries which were sent to the
town of Cudgewa; they also donated towels, sheets and food
for injured animals. Staff also cooked a barbecue fundraiser
for the local community at the IGA opposite The Border
Cancer Hospital. All proceeds were to be donated to a local
fire relief fund.
Wangaratta Private Hospital has donated a collection of
expired and discontinued stock including suture material, IV
lines and fluids, bandages, dressings and drapes to North East
Victoria Animal Aid which supports wildlife first responders
and foster carers. Staff also donated goods such as local wines
and regional produce for a raffle, which was held to raise
money for the bushfire appeal.
Wollongong Private Hospital has partnered with FoodBank
NSW/ACT and Animal Collective Nowra to collect donations.
Expired medical supplies will help with wildlife treatment and
non-perishable food will assist affected communities (e.g.
tinned foods, long-life milk, bottled drinks, rice, pasta, cereal,
tea, coffee, toiletries and sanitary items).